UC-NRLF 


B    3    fi^S    bbB 


MEDIEVAL    HELLENISM 


BY 

LOUISE  ROPES  LOOMIS,  A.  M. 


presented  in  partial  fulfilment  of  the  requirements 

for  the  degree  of  doctor  of  philosophy  in 

Columbia  University 


WICKERSHAM  PRESS 

Lancaster,  Pa. 

1906 


MEDIEVAL     HELLENISM 


BY 


LOUISE  ROPES  LOOMIS,  A.  M. 


presented  in  partial  fulfilment  of  ihe  rfquirements 

for  the  degree  of  doctor  of  philosophy  in 

Columbia  University 


WICKERSHAM  PRESS 

Lancaster,  Pa. 

1906 


/ 


^ 


PREFACE 


The  essay  here  presented  in  independent  form  was  origin- 
ally intended  to  fill  the  place  of  a  general  introduction  to  a 
study  of  the  Greek  Renaissance  in  Italy.  Shortcomings 
which  would  have  seemed  grave  in  the  main  treatise,  might, 
it  was  hoped,  appear  less  flagrant  in  the  prefatory  sketch 
afltixed  to  a  more  detailed  and  thorough  body  of  work.  Un- 
fortunately it  has  been  found  impossible  within  the  limit  of 
time  allowed  for  the  preparation  of  a  doctor's  dissertation  to 
advance  further  than  the  beginning  of  the  central  chapters 
of  the  projected  discussion.  Accordingly  it  is  now  thought 
expedient  to  publish  separately  the  introductory  matter  in 
order  to  fulfil  the  requirements  for  the  degree,  with  the  ex- 
pectation that  the  whole  of  the  contemplated  work  will  be 
issued  later. 

It  is  with  considerable  diffidence,  nevertheless,  that  this 
slight  and  inadequate  discussion  of  a  broad  and  complex 
subject  is  presented  for  judgment  solely  upon  its  own  merits. 
How  slight  and  how  inadequate  it  is,  and  how  unfit  to  stand 
alone  the  author  is  regretfully  aware.  If  it  prove  in  any  way 
useful  or  suggestive  as  a  partial  enumeration  of  facts  not 
often  brought  together  it  will  have  accomplished  every  de- 
sired end. 

The  writer  is  glad  of  the  opportunity  to  express  her  en- 
during obligation  to  Professor  James  Harvey  Robinson  of 
Columbia  University  for  direction  and  counsel  in  all  her  work 

3 


1G5250 


4  PREFACE 

for  several  years  past,  and  likewise  her  gratitude  to  Professor 
George  Lincoln  Burr  of  Cornell  University  for  additional 
criticism  and  advice  upon  this  present  undertaking. 

Louise  Ropes  Loomis. 

August,  1906. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGB 

Chapter  I.    The  Greek  language  in  the  Middle  Ages. 

1.  Decline  in  the  study  of  Greek  until  the  tenth  century 8— il 

2.  Sources  for  medieval  knowledge  of  the  Greek  tongue. 

a.  Greek -speaking  peoples  in  the  West. 

(i)   Western  travellers  to  the  Orient 11-19 

(2)  Greek  visitors  to  the  West 19—28 

Failure  of  ecclesiastical  efforts  to  train  Greek  mis- 
sionaries. 

(3)  Greek  colonies  in  South  Italy 28-32 

b.  Fragments  of  Greek  in  Latin  literature. 

(i)  General  works  and  church  rituals 32-35 

(2)   Latin  grammars. 

(a)  Pre-medieval  works :  Donatus,  Priscian.Isidore.       35-37 

(b)  Twelfth  century  grammarians :    Alexander  of 

Ville  Dieu,  Eberhard  of  Bethune 38-40 

(c)  Roger  Bacon 40-45 

Conclusion :  General  ignorance  of  and  indifference  to  the  Greek  lan- 
guage    45-48 

Chapter  IL     Greek  literature  in  the  Middle  Ages. 

1.  Narrative  literature. 

a.  Esop's   Fables 49-50 

b.  Mythological   tales 5^-53 

c.  Versions  of  Homer. 

(i)  Ilias  Latina 53-55 

(2)  Dictys  the  Cretan - 55-57 

(3)  Dares  the  Phrygian 58-59 

d.  Orestes  Tragoedia 59-6l 

e.  The  Alexander  legend 61-62 

2.  Philosophy. 

a.  The  older  philosophers  and  Plato 62-65 

b.  Aristotle. 

(i)  The  process  of  translation 66-74 

(2)  The  influence  of  Aristotle 74"79 

3.  Theology 79-83 

4.  Science 83-86 

5 


6  CONTENTS 

PAGB 

Conclusion:  The  medieval  estimate  of  Greek' achievement  as  illustrated 

by  Dante 86-88 

Chapter  III.    The  fourteenth  century  humanists. 
I    Petrarch  and  Boccaccio. 

a.  Petrarch's  attempt  to  learn  Greek 89-92 

b.  Boccaccio's  lessons  in  Greek  and  the  translation  of  Homer.     92-101 
2.  The  generation  after  Petrarch. 

a.  Literary  activity  at  Florence  102-103 

b.  Salutato  as  a  Greek  scholar 103-109 

Conclusion :  Growth  of  a  broader  interest  in  the  classic  literatures no 


CHAPTER  I 

The  Greek  of  the  classic  period  is  to  modern  imagina- 
tion aa  old  and  familiar  acquaintance.  We  have  long  been 
versed  in  the  outlines  of  his  politics,  his  art  and  his  litera- 
ture. We  have  passed  judgment  again  and  again  upon  his 
fitful  patriotism,  his  restless  ambition,  his  versatility  and  his 
humor,  his  love  of  beauty  and  vigorous  thinking,  and  his 
talent  for  viewing  a  question  impartially  on  both  sides.  We 
have  heard  the  music  of  his  language  in  prose  and  verse. 
We  are  now  unearthing  the  remains  of  the  very  houses  in 
which  he  lived  and  the  temples  where  he  paid  honor  to  his 
gods.  We  are  learning  to  describe  in  detail  the  treasure 
vaults  of  Homeric  kings  and  the  hillside  theatres  where  latter- 
day  democracies  sat  to  witness  the  tragedies  of  Euripides. 
Indeed  we  have  read  so  much  of  what  the  men  of  those  ages 
said  of  themselves  and  their  institutions  and  have  looked 
upon  so  many  of  their  monuments,  that  from  it  all  we  have 
derived  a  fairly  exact  conception,  such  as  it  is,  of  the 
achievements  and  temper  of  the  whole  race.  We  feel  that 
we  should  not  find  ourselves  among  total  strangers  were  we 
on  a  sudden  set  down  in  the  tent  of  Achilles  or  before  the 
speaker's  platform  in  the  Athenian  assembly. 

Now  and  again  in  some  medieval  chronicle  or  tale  of 
ancient  days  we  confront  a  figure  that  bears  a  well-known 
Greek  name,  but  whose  form  and  character  by  some  mys- 
terious process  have  been  altered  almost  beyond  recognition. 
The  classic  Greek  of  our  experience  is  keen-witted,  self-re- 
liant, self-possessed,  the  Greek  to  whom  the  writer  of  the 

7 


8  MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM 

Middle  Ages  introduces  us  is  more  simple-minded  and 
devout,  above  all  more  romantic.  He  wears  frequently  a 
title  or  a  dress  that  seems  to  us  curiously  anomalous.  We 
have  fancied  ourselves  not  ignorant  of  the  ways  about  Ilium, 
but  Emperor  Priam,  Duke  Hector  and  their  liege  knights 
are  not  the  warriors  who  used  to  meet  us  there.  We  have 
surely  never  seen  before  the  amorous  Prince  Troilus  and  his 
love  Cressid  of  whom  this  new  historian  has  so  much  to  say. 
Can  Atlas,  the  great  astrologer,  Prometheus,  the  successful 
scientist  and  Hercules,  the  social  reformer,  clad  in  the  garb 
of  doctors  of  the  Sorbonne,  can  they  be  the  heroes  of  the 
mythical  wondertales  we  have  loved  from  childhood?  Who 
is  the  Philosopher  or  his  pupil,  the  son  of  Nectanebus,  con- 
queror of  the  natural  and  supernatural  world?  An  unearthly 
glamor  hangs  around  the  two,  making  it  difficult  to  identify 
them  with  any  Greeks  who  lived  in  the  hard,  practical  day- 
light of  the  fourth  century.  Some  of  our  favorite  names  this 
twelfth  century  author  does  not  appear  to  know  at  all,  Leoni- 
das,  Themistocles  or  Pericles.  Of  others  he  recounts  extra- 
ordinary fables,  unlike  anything  we  have  hitherto  heard  re- 
garding them.  Greek  art  of  every  sort  apparently  means 
little  to  him,  for  he  does  not  mention  it  among  the  redoubt- 
able attainments  of  the  race.  On  the  other  hand,  he  makes 
much  of  certain  portions  of  Greek  philosophy  which  in  our 
esteem  occupy  usually  a  somewhat  secondary  place.  Of  it' 
all  he  speaks  with  assurance  too,  as  confident  as  we  that  his 
information  is  adequate  and  correct.  He  is  eight  hundred 
years  nearer  to  that  Hellenic  world  than  we.  What  material 
had  he  different  from  ours  to  give  him  ideas  of  it  so  incon- 
sistent with  our  own?  Where  did  the  Middle  Ages  get  its 
knowledge  of  Greece? 

The  Romans,  as  everyone  knows,  were  pupils  of  the 
Greeks  in  most  departments  of  learning.  Their  instruction 
was    obtained    largely   at   first  hand    from    Greek    teachers 


MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM  g 

brought  to  the  West  or  from  the  famous  schools  of  Rhodes 
and  Athens.  Until  the  fourth  century  of  our  era  the  study 
of  the  works  of  the  chief  Attic  poets,  orators  and  historians 
in  their  original  tongue  formed  an  important  part  of  the 
training  of  every  educated  gentleman.  But  during  the 
course  of  the  fourth  and  fifth  centuries  there  took  place 
throughout  the  Western  provinces  a  gradual  dissolution  of 
the  order  of  civilization  which  the  Roman  Empire  had  es- 
tablished and  so  long  preserved.  Standards  of  religion  and 
conduct  changed,  forms  of  government  gave  way,  a  new  and 
cruder  race  wrested  the  dominion  from  the  hands  of  the 
cultivated,  leisure  classes  of  the  old  society.  The  incentives 
and  the  instruments  for  the  acquisition  of  culture  slowly  dis- 
appeared.' Secular  schools,  both  public  and  private,  closed 
for  want  of  protection  and  support,  and  teachers  grew  cons- 
tantly rarer  and  less  efficient.  A  dense  and  widespread 
ignorance  followed  the  period  of  political  and  social  disinte- 
gration. The  deterioration  of  taste  that  marked  the  few 
litterati  that  remained  made  impossible  any  fresh  appeal  to 
artistic  sensibility  or  intellectual  enthusiasm.  Even  in 
churches  and  convents  education  was  commonly  reduced  to 
instruction  in  reading  and  writing  and  in  the  use  of  a  limited 
number  of  Latin  works  that  bore  upon  religion.  Only  here 
and  there  did  a  clerk  undertake  to  learn  enough  Greek  to 
read  and  translate  a  treatise  of  a  Greek  father  or  to  carry  on 
communication  with  the  Eastern  branch  of  the  Church.  An 
exceptional  scholar  of  this  kind  was  occasionally  employed 
by  king  or  noble  to  negotiate  a  marriage  with  an  Oriental 
princess  or  to  transact  some  other  diplomatic  errand  at  the 
stately  court  by  the  Bosphorus. 

During   the   sixth    and   early  seventh   centuries   the  only 

^  In  this  brief  summary  of  the  decHne  of  classic  culture  until  the  time  of 
Charlemagne  I  have  made  especial  use  of  a  recent  study  of  the  subject  by  M. 
Roger,  n  Enseignement  des  Leitres  Classiques  d'Ausone  a  Alcuin. 


lO  MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM 

schools  of  Western  Europe  to  keep  alive  a  genuine  zeal  for 
I  classic  culture  were  the  Irish.  ^  Founded  by  missionaries 
from  Gaul  and  Britain  in  the  fifth  century  when  learning  had 
not  yet  quite  vanished  from  its  ancient  seats,  and  secure  by 
reason  of  their  remoteness  from  the  wars  and  tumults  that 
distracted  the  continent,  they  continued  to  send  forth 
preachers  and  reformers  trained  not  only  along  strictly 
theological  lines  but  also  to  some  extent  in  the  broad  fields 
of  general  literature.  Their  acquaintance  with  the  classic 
authors  was  confined  apparently  to  the  Latin.  Their  knowl- 
edge of  Greek  was  scanty  and  fragmentary,  deduced  in  all 
probability  from  Greek  quotations  and  references  in  Latin 
works  and  glosses.  In  the  year  669,  however,  Theodore  of 
I  Tarsus  was  appointed  archbishop  of  Canterbury  and  came 
to  England  bringing  his  friend  Hadrian,  a  monk  from  North 
Africa,  to  superintend  the  reorganization  of  English  clerical 
schools. "  Through  their  influence  the  leadership  in  the 
intellectual  world  passed  for  the  time  to  England,  and  Greek 
was  taught  side  by  side  with  Latin  at  Canterbury  and  York. 
The  foremost  English  scholars  of  the  generations  immediately 
succeeding,  Bede  and  Aldhelm,  were  conversant  with  au- 
thorities in  both  languages.  From  the  English  schools 
Greek  was  likewise  transplanted  to  Ireland  and  flourished 
there,  when  its  short-lived  renaissance  in  England  was  over. 
Alcuin  and  his  fellow  countrymen  of  the  later  eighth  century 
who  aided  Charlemagne  to  revive  the  study  of  letters  in  his 
empire  possessed  little  or  no  Greek,  but  Sedulius  Scotus  and 
Erigena  were  Hellenists  of  considerable  ability  and  in  their 
day  extended  the  renown  of  Irish  scholarship  over  Europe. 

But  with  the   passing  of  the   ninth   century  two   changes 
were   taking   place  which  were  to  result   in    a   still   greater 

1  Roger,  chs.  vi  and  vii.     Cf.  Traube,  O  Roma  Nobilis,  pp.  353  et  seq. 
'  Roger,  ch.  viii  and  ch.  x,  pt.  vi. 


MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM  II 

diminution  in  the  number  of  such  occasional  scholars.  The 
Irish  monastic  schools  were  feeling  at  last  the  demoralizing 
effects  of  barbarian  invasions  and  fast  decaying  into  inactivity 
and  uselessness.  On  the  other  hand  the  chief'  remaining 
motive  for  the  continuation  of  the  cultivation  of  Greek  was 
disappearing  in  the  steadily  widening  schism  between  th^ 
Eastern  and  the  Western  Churches.  To  the  jealousy  and 
hostility  naturally  ensuing  from  differences  in  race  anS  civili- 
zation and  from  rival  claims  to  the  leadership  of  Christendom, 
was  added  now  the  bitterness  of  religious  divisions.  The 
suspicion  of  heresy  became  to  the  Western  mind  more  and 
more  firmly  attached  to  everything  connected  with  the  far- 
ther end  of  the  Mediterranean,'  Even  political  and  com- 
mercial intercourse  dwindled  for  a  time.  The  two  halves  of 
the  Christian  world  proceeded  on  diverging  ways  with  less 
and  less  regard  to  one  another,  the  Greeks  scornful  of  the 
barbarity  and  grossness  of  the  Teutonic  kingdoms,  the  Latins 
despising  the  luxury  and  refinement  of  the  Byzantines,  thor- 
oughly content  with  the  growing  estrangement  and  with  their 
own  crude  Latinity.* 

Thus  from  the  tenth  century  onward  the  sources  from 
which  a  knowledge  of  the  Greek  language  could  be  acquired 
and  the  motives  for  its  acquisition  were  extraordinarily  few. 
Now  and  then  a  pilgrim  or  wayfarer  from  Germany  or  Italy 
made  the  journc}'  to  the  East  to  win  spiritual  merit  or  to 

^  As  late  as  the  time  of  the  Renaissance  Theodore  of  Besa  wrote :  "  Si  on  eust 
voulu  croire  nos  maistres  (of  the  University  of  Paris),  estudier  le  Grec  et  se  mesler 
tant  soit  peu  de  I'Hebreu  estoit  una  des  plus  grandes  heresies  du  monde."  Quoted 
by  Roger,  p.  389,  n.  2. 

'  The  embassy  of  Liutprand  in  968  marked  a  special  effort  on  the  part  of  Otto 
I.  to  come  to  an  understanding  with  the  Eastern  Emperor,  particularly  on  the  sub- 
ject of  the  disputed  lands  in  South  Italy.  The  spirit  in  which  Liutprand  viewed 
the  Oriental  court  after  this  visit  is  clearly  displayed  in  his  vivacious  report.  An 
English  translation  is  included  in  Henderson,  Medieval  Documents,  p.  442,  etseq. 
For  original  see  Liutprand,  Opera,  ed  Dummler,  pp,  136  et  seq. 


12 


MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM 


satisfy  an  adventurous  curiosity,  and  returning  brought  with 
him  tales  of  strange  experiences  and  a  smattering  of  foreign 
tongues  and,  possibly,  a  manuscript  or  two  which  in  the 
course  of  time  he  might  laboriously  translate/  Such  was 
Ulric  or  Udalric,  abbo't  of  the  monastery  at  Freising,  who  in 
the  middle  of  the  eleventh  century  visited  Greece  and  the 
Holy  Land  and  carried  back  a  copy  of  the  Greek  romance 
of  Alexander  ascribed  to  Pseudo-Callisthenes,  which  in  the 
leisure  hours  of  alter  years  he  put  into  Latin, ^  Such  was 
probably  James,  a  clerk  of  Venice,  who  in  the  early  twelfth 
century  translated  parts  of  the  Organon  of  Aristotle  for  the 
benefit  of  the  schoolmen. ^  Such  also  was  the  jurist,  John 
Burgundio  of  Pisa,  at  one  time  employed  by  Barbarossa  in 
the  East,  who  at  the  instigation  of  Pope  Eugenius  IV  trans- 
lated various  homilies  of  Chrysostom,  Gregory  of  Nyssa  and 
John  of  Damascus.4  Such  again  was  William  Gap,  a  monk- 
ish physician  of  Paris,  who  in  1167  went  to  Constantinople 
in  quest  of  Greek  manuscripts  for  Odo,  abbot  of  St.  Denis, 
and  succeeded  in  procuring  a  life  of  that  Dionysius  whom  the 
convent  claimed  as  patron  saint  l^f 'Michael  Syncellus,  patri- 
arch of  Jerusalem,  and  also  an  anonymous  life  of  the  philos- 
opher Secundus.  A  fellow  monk  put  the  biography  of 
Dionysius  into  Latin   soon  after  Gap's  return  and  dedicated 

^  For  a  considerable  list  of  such  Greek  scholars  see  Sandys,  History  of  Classical 
Scholarship,  Bk.  vi,  ch.  xxvi-xxxii. 

'  Cramer,  De  GrcBcis  Medii  CEvi  Studiis,  p.  55. 

"  Our  actual  information  concerning  James  is  limited  to  that  contained  in  a 
sentence  inserted  m  the  Chronicle  of  Robert  de  Mont  St.  Michel  for  the  year 
1 128:  "  Jacobus  clericus  de  Venecia  transtulit  de  Greco  in  Latinum  quosdam 
libros  Aristotelis  et  commentatus  est;  scilicet  Topica,  Anal,  priores  et  posteriores 
et  Elencos;  quamvis  antiquior  translatio  super  eosdem  libros  haberetur."  Pertz, 
Mon.  Ger.  Scriptores,  vol.  vi,  p.  489.  The  last  clause  has  led  to  search  for  older 
translations,  but  none  have  yet  been  found.  Cousin  looked  fruitlessly  through  the 
manuscripts  of  the  Bibliotheque  National.      Ouvrages  Inedits,  p.  liv. 

*  Jourdain,  Recherches,  p.  72.     Sandys,  p.  536. 


MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM  1 3 

it  to   abbot  Odo ;    the  other  Gap  himself   worked  upon    in 
later  years  when  abbot  in  Odo's  place.' 

A  growing  dissatisfaction  with  the  current  Latin  versions 
of  Aristotle  and  an  ambition  to  know  him  more  and  better 
were  characteristics  of  the  intellectual  situation  at  the  open- 
ing of  the  thirteenth  century.  At  the  same  time  the  tem- 
porary occupation  of  the  Eastern  Empire  by  the  crusaders 
encouraged  passage  between  the  two  divisions  of  Christen- 
dom. In  1205  Pope  Innocent  III  in  the  name  of  the  new 
emperor,  Baldwin  invited  the  masters  and  students  of  the 
University  of  Paris  to  betake  themselves  to  Greece  to  revive 
the  study  of  letters  in  the  land  where  it  first  arose."  Shortly 
afterwards  a  slight  movement  of  scholars  toward  Greece 
seems  actually  to  have  taken  place.  Athens  was  in  ruins,  a 
desolate  wreck  of  her  former  self,  but  John  of  Basingstoke, 
archdeacon  of  Leicester,  studied  there  and  "  saw  and  heard 
from  the  wise  Greek  doctors  things  unknown  to  the  Latins." 
He  brought  home  to  England  several  Greek  texts,  in  par- 
ticular a  "  Greek  Dcmatus  "  or  manual  of  grammar,  which  he 
afterwards  translated.  He  likewise  informed  his  friend 
Grosseteste,  Bishop  of  Lincoln,  of  the  existence  of  the  "  Tes- 
taments of  the  Twelve  Patriarchs,"  a  work  understood  to  be 
a  Greek  rendering  of  an  ancient  Hebrew  original,  and  to  con- 
tain irrefutable  proofs  in  the  shape  of  ancient  Messianic 
prophecies  of  the  truth  of  Christianity.  Grosseteste  was 
aroused  by  the  news  to  send  a  messenger  to  Greece  after  the 

'  Jourdain,  Recherchts,  p.  46.  Hist.  Litt.  de  la  I-rance,  vol.  xiv,  pp.  374-6. 
Sandys,  p.  534. 

'  "  .  .  .  quatinus  in  Greciam  accedentes  ibi  studeatis  litterarum  studium  reform- 
are,  unde  noscitur  exordium  habuisse,  ....  non  tedeat  plerosque  vesttum  ad 
terram  argento  et  auro  gemmisque  refertam,  frumento,  vino  et  oleo  stabilitam  et 
bonoriim  omnium  copiis  affluentem  accedere,  ut  ad  illius  honoreni  et  gloriam  a 
quo  est  omnis  scientie  donum  sibi  et  aliis  ibidem  proficiant."  Denifle,  Lhartula- 
rium,vo\.  i,  p.  63. 


14 


MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM 


Testaments  and  to  have  a  translation  made  of  them/  At  the 
same  time  he  learned  to  read  a  little  Greek  himself,  and 
superintended  the  preparation  of  versions  from  the  Greek  of 
the  letters  of  St.  Ignatius  and  of  the  Nicomachean  Ethics  of 
Aristotle.^  The  manuscripts  came  perhaps  from  John  of 
Basingstoke.  The  translators  were  a  small  number  of  other 
monks  who  had  traveled  abroad,  including  one  or  two  Greek 
sojourners  in  English  cloisters.3 

'  "  Hie  magister  I(obannes)  intiuiaverat  episcopo  Lincolniensi  Roberto,  quod 
quando  studuit  Athenis  viderat  et  audierat  ab  peritis  Grecorum  doctoribus  quedam 
Latinis  incognita.  Inter  que  reperit  duodecim  patriarcharum,  filiorum  videlicet 
lacob,  testamenta;  que  constat  esse  de  substantia  Bibliothece,  sed  per  invidiam 
ludeorum  dudum  fuisse  abscondita,  propter  manifestas,  que  in  eisdem  patent,  de 
Christo  prophetias.  Unde  idem  episcopus  misit  in  Greciam  et  cum  ea  habuisset, 
transtulit  de  Greco  in  Latinum  et  quedam  alia.  .  .  .  Memoratus  insuper  Johan- 
nes) quoddam  scriptum  transtulit  de  Greco  in  Latinum,  in  quo  artificiose  et  com- 
pendiose  tota  vis  grammatice  continetur;  quod  idem  magister  Donatum  Grecorum 
appellavit  ....  item  aliud  scriptum  quod  ab  Atheniensibus  habuit."  Matthew 
Paris,  Chron.  Mai.,  vol.  v,  pp.  284-6. 

'  On  Grosseteste's  ovi^n  knowledge  of  Greek,  Roger  Bacon  says :  "  Sed  non  bene 
scivit  linguas  ut  transferret,  nisi  circa  ultimum  vita  sue  quando  vocavit  Grecos  et 
fecit  libros  Grammatice  Grace  da  Grecia  et  aliis  congregari.  Sed  isti  pauca 
transtulerunt."  Bacon,  Op.  Tert.,  p.  91.  See  also  Comp.  Phil.,  p.  472.  Gk. 
Grammar,  p.  Ivii.  But  that  Grosseteste  was  actually  able  at  one  time  to  read 
Greek  with  some  enjoyment  and  to  make  a  rough  translation  of  the  gist  of  a  book 
is  proved  by  a  letter  of  his  own  to  the  abbot  and  monks  of  Peterborough : 
"Quiescens  bac  septimana  proxima  paululum  ab  exteriorumtumultu,  quadam  eius- 
dem  septimane  die  lectioni  parumper  vacans  incidi  in  quandam  conscription  em 
de  vita  monachorum  que  eam  decenter  extollit;  et  quia  vestro  studio  credidigratum 
fore  si  quod  ibidem  intelligere  potui  vobiscum  communicarem,  non  verba  que 
ibidem  inveni,  quia  alterius  quam  Latine  sunt  lingue,  sed  extractum  pro  modulo 
meo  verborum  sensum,  adiectis  alicubi  paucis  ad  dilucidationem  in  hanc  paginam 
redigens,  vobis  destinare  curavi."  Grosseteste,  Kpistola:,  p.  173.  See  also  San- 
dys, pp.  554-5.  Jourdain,  p.  140.  For  mention  of  a  Greek  psalter  said  to  have 
belonged  to  Grosseteste,  see  James,  Ancient  Libraries,  p.  528. 

°  "  Ilium  igitur  gloriosum  tractatum  (the  above-mentioned  Testaments)  ad  robur 
fidei  Christiane  et  ad  maiorem  ludeorum  confusionem  transtulit  plene  et  evidenter 
episcopus  memoratus  de  Greco,  verbo  ad  verbum,  in  Latinum,  coadiutante  magis- 
tro  Nicolao  Greco,  clerico  abbatis  Sancti  Albani."  Matthew  Paris,  Chron.  Mai. 
vol.  iv,  p.  233.     One  of  the  fifteenth  century  humanists  criticises  the  rendeiing  o 


MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM  I^ 

In  fact  it  appears  for  a  time  a  part  of  the  official  policy  of 
the  Dominican  order  to  keep  a  few  of  its  promising  men 
trained  in  Greek  both  to  carry  on  the  work  of  propagandism 
in  the  East  and  to  aid  in  theological  and  philosophical  trans- 
lations at  home. '  Of  particular  importance  in  their  day 
were  the  little  group  of  linguists  gathered  about  the  great 
Dominican  schoolman,  Thomas  Aquinas,  at  Paris.  The  best 
known  of  these  was  William,  a  native  of  Moerbeka  in  Bra- 
bant. After  studying  for  some  time  in  Greece  he  served  as 
Greek  secretary  at  the  great  ecumenical  Council  of  Lyons  in 
1274,  where  he  took  part  in  the  chanting  of  the  Nicene  Creed 
in  Greek,  repeating  three  times  the  phrase  obnoxious  to  the 
Eastern  churchmen.  ^  Like  others  of  his  time  he  drew  a 
distinction  between  contemporary  Greeks  who  deserved  only 
to  be  treated  with  rigor  as  degenerate  schismatics  and  the 

the  Ethics.  After  speaking  of  a  translation  from  the  Arabic  he  continues: 
"  Altera  haec  posterior  et  novior  a  Britanno  quodam  traducta,  cuius  etiam  proe- 
mium  legimus,  in  quo  et  Fratrem  se  Ordinis  Predicatorum  scribit  et  rogatu  con- 
fratrum  de  his  transferendis  laborem  suscepisse."  He  condemns  the  version  as 
bungling  and  inaccurate.     Bruni,  Epistiola,  vol.  i,  p.  140. 

^  See  the  encyclical  letter  of  Humbert,  master-general  of  the  Dominican  order 
in  1255:  "Quod  si  quis  inspirante  dei  gracia  cor  suum  invenerit  secundum 
voluntatem  gubernantis  paratum  ad  linguam  arabicam,  hebraycam,  grecam  seu 
aliam  barbaram  addiscendam,  ex  quo  sibi  mercedem  adquirere  possit  in  opera 
salutari  tempore  opportuno,  sive  eciam  repererit  se  dispositum  ad  exeundum 
castra  proprie  nacionis,  transiturus  ad  provinciam  Terre  Sancte  seu  Grecie  vel 
alias  vicinas  infidelibus  .  .  .  precor  et  moneo  ut  statum  animi  sui  circa  hoc  mihi 
scribere  non  omittat."  Alon,  Ord.  Frat.  Praed.,  voli.  v,  pp.  19-20.  Also  printed 
in  Martene,  Thes.  N'ov.  Anec,  vol.jy,  col.  "1708.  As  early  as  1239  Greece  had 
been  included  among  the  Dominican  provinces,  organized  along  with  other  out- 
lying regions,  such  as  Poland,  Dacia  and  Palestine.  A/on.  Ord.  Praed.,  vol.  iii. 
pp.  II,  13,  18,  etc.  Cf.  Hist.  Litt.  de  la  Fra7ice,  vol.  xix,  p.  342.  The  Francis- 
cans were  active  in  thirteenth  century  negotiations  for  a  union  of  the  Greek  and 
Latin  churches.  "  Mineritas  insuper  qui  tanti  operis  (ecclesiastical  negotiations) 
strenui  erant  administri  atque  apocrisiariorum  pontificiorum  munere  fungebantur," 
etc.  Raynaldus,  1273,  cap.  5c,  p.  320,  See  references  to  their  part  in  the  move- 
ment in  Hefele,  Conciliengeschichte,  vol.  vi,  pp.  \\<^-\bT, passim , 

*  Mansi,  Sacrorum  Conciliorxan  CoUectio,  vol.  xxiv,  pp.  64—5. 


1 6  MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM 

progenitors  of  the  race  who  had  achieved  so  much  that  was 
worth  investigation  and  respect.  Both  in  Paris,  Rome  and 
elsewhere  he  carried  on  the  process  of  translating  with  vigor, 
producing  versions  of  "  all  the  books  of  (Aristotle's)  Natural 
and  Moral  Philosophy  at  the  request  of  brother  Thomas," 
and  also  of  "  the  books  of  Proclus  and  some  other  things," 
including  a  commentary  on  Aristotle  by  Simplicius,  the  De 
Prognosticationibus  of  Hippocrates  and  the  De  Alimentis  of 
Galen.'  "In  translating  these  works  from  the  Greek,"  he 
remarks  in  his  preface  to  Galen,  "  I  have  hoped  that  my 
labor  might  serve  to  furnish  some  new  light  to  the  Latins, 
and  if  in  this  book  I  have  attained  my  desire  I  offer  thanks 
to  Him  who  suffered  me  to  finish  it."^  "  Let.  the  reader 
understand,"  he  says  in  a  note  to  his  rendering  of  Simplicius, 
"that  the  Greek  text  was  exceedingly  corrupt  and  that  in 
many  passages  I  could  extract  no  meaning  from  it.  I  have 
done  what  I  could  ;  it  was  better  to  have  it  thus  imperfect 
than  not  at  all."  3  In  1277  he  was  appointed  archbishop  of 
Corinth  and  spent  his  last  years  in  an  energetic  endeavor  to 
convert  his  province  to  orthodoxy. 

Associated  with  him  in  the  work  of  translating  at  Paris 
were  Henry,  also  a  Dominican  monk  of  Brabant,  and  Thomas 

'  The  following  notice  of  William  is  given  in  a  thirteenth  century  list  of  distin- 
guished Dominicans  at  Paris  :  "  Fr.  ^^  ilhelmus  Brabantinus,  Corinthiensis,  trars- 
tuiit  omnes  libros  naturalis  et  moralis  philosophic  de  greco  in  latinum  ad  instan- 
tiam  fratris  Thome.  Idem  transtuht  libros  Procli  et  quedam  alia."  Arc/iiv.  fiir 
Litt.  u  Kirch.  Gesch.,  1886,  vol.  ii,  p.  226.  See  further  Jourdain,  Recherches,  pp. 
67-70. 

'  "  In  his  que  per  me  trarsferuntur  (x  Greco  operibus  hoc  intendere  consuevi, 
ut  Latinitati  luminis  al'quid  adiiciat  labor  meus,  quem  finem  si  in  hoc  opere  attigi, 
illi  gratias  habeo  agere  qui  dedit  et  consummare."  Bandini,  Cat.  Codd.  LaU,  vol. 
iii,  p.  29. 

^  "Sciat  etiam  qui  hoc  opus  inspexerit,  exemplar  grecum  valde  fuisse  corruptum, 
et  in  multis  locis  nullum  suhiectum  pctui  ex  littera  trahere;  feci  tamen  quod  potui; 
melius  erat  sic  corruptum  habere  quam  nihil."  Quoted  by  Jourdain,  Recherches, 
P-  73- 


MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM 


17 


of  Cantimpre.  '  It  is  clear  that  Aquinas  toward  the  end  of 
his  life  possessed  two  or  more  different  versions  of  several 
treatises  of  Aristotle,  all  derived  directly  from  the  Greek, 
which  he  compared  and  discussed  with  the  aim  of  arriving 
more  surely  at  the  original  meaning.  ^  A  little  more  trans- 
lating was  accomplished  by  other  Latin  prelates  in  charge 
of  Eastern  churches  during  the  brief  period  of  Western  do- 
minion, a  few  of  whom  whiled  away  some  hours  of  exile  in 
struggling  over  Greek  books,  chiefly  ecclesiastical.  But 
their  finished  productions  were  too  faulty  and  obscure  to 
gain  currency  and  for  the  most  part  perished  unobserved.  3 
With  the  return  of  the  Greek  emperors  to  Constantinople 
and  the  collapse  of  the  precarious  fabric  of  Latin  political 
ascendency  the  clerical  Hellenists  disappear  almost  entirely. 
The  general  drift  of  travel  towards  the  Orient,  accelerated 
by  the  revival  of  commerce  as  well  as  by  the  Continuation  of 
the  crusades,  attracted  for  the  most  part  characters  with  no 
literary  aspirations  whatever.  The  merchant  who  plied  be- 
tween Marseilles,  Genoa  or  Venice  and  the  Levant,  the  sol- 
dier or  freebooter  who  marched  to  the  relief  of  the  Holy 
Sepulchre  had  as  a  rule  neither  the  tastes  nor  the  education 
to  dispose  them  to  a  search  after  intellectual  riches.  The 
more  learned  among  the  Latins  came  to  save,  convert  and 
teach,  not  to  be  taught.*     The  Greeks  growing  ever  more 

^  Jourdain,  op.  cit.,  p.  66.  Archiv.fiir  Litt.  n.  Kirch.  Gesch.,  1886,  vol.  ii,  p. 
227.     Sandys,  p.  564, 

^  Jourdain,  op  cit.,  p,  40.  '  Traversari,  Epistolce,  vol.  i,  p.  ccxviii.     ,       \ 

*  A  cmjipvis  excepti<;uvto  the  ordinary  reTigious  leader  in  his  attitude  toward  the 
Greek  world,  was  the  mystic,  Joachim  of  Fiore.  In  1258  thirty  errors  from  "The 
Everlasting  Gospel,"  a  book  based  upon  his  teaching,  were  condemned  at  Paris. 
Among  these  errors  were  the  following:  "  Quartus  est  quod  recessus  ecclesie 
Grecorum  ab  ecclesia  Romana  fuit  a  Spiritu  Sancto.  .  .  .  Sextus  est  quod  populus 
Gtecus  magis  ambulat  secundum  Spiritum  Sanctum  quam  populus  Latinus.  .  .  . 
Septimus  quod  sicut  Filius  operatur  salutem  populi  Latini  sive  popali  Romani,  quia 
ipsum  representat,  sic  .Spiritus  Sanctus  operatur  salutem  populi  Greci,  quia  ipsum 
representat."     Denifle,  Chartulariiwi,  vol.  i,  p.  273. 


iS  MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM 

sore  and  resentful  under  their  rough  handhng  held  them- 
selves severely  aloof,  where  they  could  not  actively  resist.' 
One  finds,  therefore,  but  scanty  trace  of  Greek  influences 
upon  the  ordinary  traveler.  Only  here  and  there  upon  a  slip 
of  parchment  was  preserved  an  ill-constructed  glossary  of 
Greek  words  for  every-day  use,  or  an  abbreviated  phrase- 
book  of  requests  in  colloquial  dialect,  for  food,  drink,  shelter 
and  other  necessities.^  The  wide  acquaintance  with  the  fun- 
damentals of  one  another's  language  which  might  have  been 
expected  from  so  long  a  period  of  frequent  intercommunica- 
tion did  not  take  place.  The  alienation  of  spirit  was  too 
complete.  What  fragments  of  a  Greek  vocabulary  were 
acquired  by  the  usual  wayfarer  belonged,  moreover,  to  the 
degenerate  Romaic  of  the  day,  and  did  little  to  qualify  their 
possessor  to  cope  with  a  page  from  the  classics. ^  To  the 
end  of  the  Middle  Ages  crusader  and  merchant  continued  to 

'  The  Greek  historians  of  the  crusading  period  supply  countless  illustrations  of 
this  feeling.  Nicetas,  who  describes  from  his  own  experience  the  sack  of  Constan- 
tinople in  1204,  characterizes  the  Latin  soldier  as  follows :  "(buvy  aavfi<j>uvog"'E?i/\.7;ai, 
jvu/ii/  (p//iOXPVf^a~oi;,o(p-&a?ifJ.dg  a7ratda}'uy7/TO(:,  yiari/f)  aKdpeaTOC,  bpyi'X.n^  koL  Spifina 
Tpvxv  Kol  x^ip  6i<l>uoarh  ^i(puc  6ta  iravrdg."  De  Rebus  Post  Captain  Urbeni  Gestis. 
Migne,  vol.  139,  p.  988.  In  a  lament  over  a  statue  of  Helen  melted  down  by  the 
crusaders  for  its  bronze,  he  denounces  the  illiterate  barbarians  who  are  ignorant 
of  Homer:  "'A/Awf  re  ttov  nap  ajpa/i/j.aToig  QapjiapoiQ  Koi  reTieov  avaktfialjrjToiq 
avayvucLg  koI  jvugiq  tuv  ettI  aol  paipifidrjevTuv  EKeivuv  ettuv. 

Oh  veuiGig  Tpuag  Kal  kvKvi]UL6aq  'Axaiovg 

Toi.rj'6  ttficpl  yvvatnl  no7Jvv  xpovov  akyea  Trdax^iv. 

Alvinc  h-&ava-yai  ^eaiQ  fJf  cJTra  eoiicev." 

De  Statuis  quas  Francipoli  Destruxerunt,  Migne,  ibid.,  p.  1054. 

^  Greek-Latin  glossaries  are  occasionally  mentioned  in  catalogues  of  medieval 
libraries.  There  was  one  at  Rheims  in  the  tenth  or  eleventh  century,  one  in  the 
monastery  of  St.  Emmerammus  at  Ratisbon  about  the  same  period,  one  in  the 
library  of  Corbie  at  the  opening  of  the  thirteenth  century.  Gottlieb,  Mittelalt. 
Bib.,  p.  342.  Becker,  Cat.  Bib.  Antiq.,  pp.  128,  283.  The  library  at  Chartres  in 
the  twelfth  century  contained  an  "  Alphabetum  grece  et  orientale."  Maitre,  Ecoles 
Episcopales,  p.  289.  A  suggestive  specimen  of  a  glossary  of  this  sort  is  printed  in 
Goetz  and  Gundermann,  Glossx  Latinogrxcae,  Preface. 

''■  On  popular  Greek  see  Gidel,  Nouvelles  Etudes,  pp.  253-6. 


MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM  lo 

find  camping  ground  and  market  in  the  Byzantine  empire. 
They  marched  there,  fought  there,  bought  and  sold  and 
owned  houses  and  land  there,  they  lived  and  died  there, — 
but  they  cared  not  to  learn  more  than  the  inevitable  mini- 
mum of  its  speech  and  they  saw  no  value  in  its  learning  and 
its  ancient  manuscripts.'  From  the  few  Dominican  scholars 
of  the  thirteenth  century  who  sought  the  East  for  knowledge 
we  hear  of  hardly  another  until  we  arrive  at  the  humanists. 
Rarely  in  medieval  chronicles  do  we  read  of  the  appear- 
ance of  Greeks  in  Western  lands.  At  long  intervals  an  offi- 
cial delegation  from  the  Byzantine  emperor  attended  the 
papal  court  or  the  sessions  of  a  church  council.  In  the 
spring  of  1095  Alexis  Comnenus  sent  envoys  to  the 
Synod  of  Placentia  to  plead  for  Christian  aid  against  the 
encroaching  hordes  of  Turks,  and  thereby  contributed  to 
bring  about  the  determination  of  the  Pope  to  preach  the 
crusade  at  Clermont  in  the  autumn.^  Upon  the  recovery  of 
Constantinople  in  1261  from  the  allies  who  had  proved  more 
terrible  than  foes,  Michael  Palaeologus  became  alarmed  by 
threats  of  a  new  crusade  against  his  dominions  and  opened 
negotiations  again  with  the  Pope,  offering  to  recognize  the 
spiritual  supremacy  of  the  Holy  See  in  return  for  its  political 
countenance  and  favor. ^  The  negotiations  culminated  in  the 
great  council  which  met  at  Lyons  in  1274,  where  the  Greek 
patriarch,  the  metropoHtan  of  Nica^a  and  several  high  offi- 
cials   of   the    Byzantine    court    appeared    to    represent   the 

^  On  the  triumphal  march  through  the  streets  of  Constantinople  some  of  the 
crusaders  carried  inkhorns,  pens  and  manuscripts  to  show  their  derision  of  a 
nation  of  scribes.  "01  6t  ypaipt'af  dovctKag  kcu  6o;\;e'ia  juiXavoc  ijiefxivrti;  rofioit;  Tt/v 
XeifXi  eSldocav  ug  ypafijuareac  yfidc  Tu-&d;-ovreg."  Nicetas,  Z)e  Rebus  Post  Captam, 
etc.,  Migne,  vol.  139,  p.  980. 

'  Gibbon,  Decline  and  Fall,  vol.  vi,  p.  262. 

'  For  a  full  account  of  the  negotiations  and  their  results  see  Gibbon,  vol.  vi, 
pp.  470-4.  Hefele,  vol.  vi,  pp.  119-163.  Raynaldus,  1264-1282  passim.  For 
the  Council  of  Lyons  see  Mansi,  vol.  xxiv,  pp.  37  et  seq. 


20  MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM 

emperor  and  to  tender  in  his  name  an  oath  of  fideHty  to 
Rome  and  its  dogmas.  At  the  council  all  was  harmony. 
William  of  Moerbeka  and  a  Franciscan  who  also  understood 
Greek  acted  as  interpreters/  At  the  close  of  the  ceremonies 
of  reconciliation  the  Te  Deum  was  intoned  in  solemn  rejoic- 
ing and  the  Greek  legates  were  admitted  to  seats  among  the 
Roman  cardinals.  But  the  joy  was  short  lived.  In  Byzan- 
tium the  Greek  bishops,  supported  by  the  nation  as  a  whole, 
refused  to  admit  the  necessity  for  such  an  ignominious  sur- 
render of  principles  and  defied  the  authority  of  the  emperor. 
Succeeding  popes  added  to  the  embarrassment  of  the  friends 
of  the  union  by  insisting  upon  proofs  of  absolute  submission 
such  as  the  government  found  it  impossible  to  give.  At  the 
death  of  Palaeologus  in  1282  all  pretense  of  maintaining  his 
unpopular  policy  was  abandoned  and  the  proceedings  of  the 
Council  of  Lyons  were  as  though  they  had  never  been. 
During  the  fourteenth  century,  however,  as  often  as  the  tri- 
umphs of  the  Moslem  drove  the  Greek  court  into  a  temporary 
panic,  emissaries  were  despatched  again  to  the  Pope  to  dis- 
cuss once  more  the  proposition  of  an  ecclesiastical  union 
and  an  offensive  league  against  the  infidels.-  The  half- 
heartedness  of  these  overtures  was  frequently  recognized 
and  the  reception  accorded  them  was  not  always  cordial. 
As  a  political  expedient  to  gain  the  assistance  of  the  West 
they  failed  of  substantial  results.  But  in  other  connections 
we  shall  meet  some  of  these  later  envoys  again. 

On  other  infrequent  occasions  when  Greeks  visited  the 
West  they  were  usually  bound  upon  some  private,  particular 
errand  and  with  its  accomplishment  vanished,  making  but 

'  C/.  supra  p.  15. 

''■  As  Gibbon  has  it,  "  In  the  four  last  centuries  of  the  Greek  emperors  their 
friendly  or  hostile  aspect  toward  the  Pope  and  the  Latins  may  be  observed  as  the 
thermometer  of  their  prosperity  or  distress,  as  the  scale  of  the  rise  and  fall  of  the 
barbarian  dynasties."     Vol.  vii,  p.  83. 


MEDIEVAL  EI  ELLEN  ISM  21 

slight  impression  upon  the  alien  society  around  them.  In 
the  early  eleventh  century  Greek  craftsmen  were  employed 
at  Rome  to  cast  the  bronze  doors  of  the  basilica  of  "  St.  Paul 
beyond  the  Walls  "  and  inscribed  in  Greek  letters  the  names 
of  the  prophets  whose  figures  decorated  the  panels.'  Toward 
the  end  of  the  twelfth  century  Isaac  Angelus,  son  of  the 
chancellor  of  the  Emperor  Manuel,  "was  in  Paris  attending 
upon  the  schools  that  through  their  teaching  he  might  learn 
the  language  and  ways  of  the  Latins."  On  his  return  to  the 
East  he  headed  a  successful  revolution  against  a  usurper  of 
the  throne  and  was  himself  crowned  Emperor  Isaac  II. '  A 
few  years  later  comes  a  strange  tale  of  the  arrival  at  the 
court  of  King  John  of  "certain  Greek  philosophers  of  grave 
and  venerable  aspect  and  bearing  "  from  Athens,  who  pro- 
posed to  convince  the  monarch  of  the  errors  of  the  Latin 
creed  but  were  unceremoniously  ordered  to  keep  silence  on 
the  subject  and  to  leave  England. ^  In  a  few  instances  a 
Greek  remained  in  the  West  long  enough  to  be  of  actual 
literary  service.  Allusion  has  already  been  made  to  the 
"  Nicholas  Grecus,"  who  as  a  monk  in  the  abbey  of  St. 
Albans  assisted  Bishop  Grosseteste  in  translating  Aristotle's 
Ethics   and  certain  religious  works.'^     He  was  apparently  a 

'  Sandys,  p.  500. 

'The  chronicle  ascribed  to  Benedict  of  Peterborough  gives  a  full  account 
of  Isaac's  fortunes.  After  describing  the  tyranny  of  the  usurper,  Andronicus,  and 
his  cruelty  to  Isaac's  father  it  says,  "  Et  habuit  tertium  filium,  clericum  sapientem, 
quem  Greci  nominabant  Sacvvize,  Latine  autem  Ysakus;  qui  tempore  persecu- 
tionis  in  transmarinis  partibus  Parisius  commorans  scholas  frequentabat,  ut  in 
doctrinis  Latinorum  linguam  et  mores  illorum  disceret,"  etc.  Chronicle,  vol.  i, 
pp.  255-261. 

' "  Quidam  philosophi  Greci,  vultu  et  gestu  severi  et  venerabiles,  tertio  vel 
quarto  anno  regni  eiusdem  regis  I(ohannis)  in  Angliam  ab  Athenis  venientej 
curiam  regis  adierunt,  sperantes  eum  et  alios  per  consequens  occidentales  in 
arcum  pravum  in  articulis  fidei  convertisse  .  .  .  Et  sic  imposito  eis  silentio  vacui 
recesserunt  et  confusi."     Matthew  Paris,  Hist.  Angl.,  vol.  iii,  p.  64. 

*  Cf.  supra  p.  14  and  n.  3. 


22  MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM 

person  of  unusual  attainments,  one  of  the  few  Greek  scholars 
to  share  in  the  parsimonious  praise  dealt  out  by  Roger 
Bacon  to  his  contemporaries.  Two  generations  earlier  a 
converted  Saracen,  who  was  also  an  inmate  of  an  English 
monastery,  made  himself  useful  in  a  similar  way,  translating 
the  Celestial  and  Ecclesiastical  Hierarchies  of  Dionysius  the 
Areopagite  for  John  of  Salisbury,  in  an  attempt  to  improve 
upon  the  older  version  of  Erigena.'  We  find  John  of  Salis- 
bury writing  to  him  for  an  explanation  of  the  word  "  ousia  " 
as  employed  by  Ambrose.  "  I  have  found  the  word  a 
stumbling  block,"  he  says,  "  which  none  of  our  masters  can 
remove,  because  they  are  ignorant  of  Greek."^ 

With  the  thirteenth  century  began  a  series  of  curiously 
futile  and  for  the  most  part  perfunctory  efforts  on  the  part 
of  princes  and  popes  to  bring  Greek  scholars  or  teachers  to 
the  West  for  political  or  missionary  purposes.  Shortly  after 
the  events  of  1204  Philip  Augustus  is  said  to  have  estab- 
lished and  endowed  at  Paris  a  college  of  Constantinople  for 
the  benefit  of  students  from  the  Greek  empire,  in  order,  as 
the  historian  suggests,  that  "  they  might  gradually  forget 
their  ancient,  traditional  antipathy  to  the  Latins  and  be  con- 
vinced of  their  culture  and  magnanimity,  and  on  returning 
home  might   publish  abroad  the  Latin  virtues  to  the  great 

*The  Saracen  had  difficulty  in  converting  the  Greek  into  accurate  and  yet  easy 
Latin.  In  his  version  of  the  Celestial  Hierarchy  he  hit  upon  the  device  of  writing 
as  one  the  two  or  three  Latin  words  which  he  sometimes  needed  to  convey  the 
meaning  of  a  single  Greek  word.  "  Sepe  autem,  ubi  duas  vel  tres  dictiones 
Latinas  pro  una  Greca  posui,  eas  quasi  unam  coniunxi :  non  quod  unam  dictionem 
eas  esse  vellem,  sed  ut  plenior  intellectus  fieret,  et  quantum  elegantie  ex  inopia 
Latine  locutionis  tractatus  iste  perderet  appareret."  John  of  Salisbury,  Epist. 
cxlix,  Migne,  vol.  199,  p.  144.  But  in  the  Ecclesiastical  Hierarchy  he  abandoned 
the  scheme,  "  et  alicubi  sensum  potius  quam  verba  sum  secutus."  Op.  cU.,  p. 
260,  Epist.  ccxxx. 

"^ "  Verbi  obstaculum  reperi,  quod  nullus  magistrorum  nostrorum  sufficit  amo- 
vere,  qui  Grece  lingue  expertes  sunt."     Op.  cii.,  p.  162,  Epist.  clxix. 


MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM  23 

renown  of  the  Latin  name."'  The  plan  was  not  devoid  of  a 
certain  statesmanship  but  there  is  no  record  that  any  one 
ever  profited  by  it.  In  1362  a  soHtary  officer,  Master  Ivan 
of  Novarra,  was  found  the  one  inhabitant  of  the  buildings  and 
was  induced  to  make  over  the  property  for  nine  years  to  the 
the  founders  of  the  College  de  la  Marche.  In  1374  the 
university  finally  appropriated  the  whole  for  its  own  uses.^ 
In  1248  Pope  Innocent  IV  in  a  letter  to  the  Chancellor  of 
Paris  unfolded  a  scheme  by  which  ten  young  men  versed  in 
Arabic  and  other  Eastern  tongues  should  be  supported  by 
yearly  contributions  from  the  churches  and  monasteries  of 
France  while  they  studied  at  the  university,  "  so  that  becom- 
ing learned  in  Holy  Writ  which  teaches  the  ways  of  the 
Commandments  of  the  Lord  they  may  in  turn  instruct 
others  in  regions  beyond  the  sea  into  salvation. "^     For  forty 

^  "  Post  expugnatam  Constantinopolim  a  Francis  et  Venetis  sacro  foedere  iunctis, 
Philipo  Aug.  rege  Lutetie  conditum  est  collegium  Constantinopolitanum  ad  ripam 
Sequane  prope  forum  Malbertinum,  nescio  in  arcano  imperii  consilio  ut  Grecorum 
liberi  Lutetiam  venientes  una  cum  lingua  latina  paulatim  vetus  illud  et  patrium 
in  Latinos  odium  deponerent,  eorumque  humanitatem  et  benignitatem  expert!,  ad 
suos  reversi  non  sine  magno  latini  nominis  incremento  virtutes  illas  passim  predi- 
carent :  ac  velut  obsides  habiti  qui,  si  quid  parentes  et  afEnes  greca  levitate  ad- 
versus  Latinos  molirentur,  ipsi  adolescentes  Lutetia  conclusi  fuerint."  Jourdain, 
Recherches,  p.  49,  note.  Taken  from  Bulaeus  {Hist.  Univ.  Paris.,  vol.  iii,  p.  10), 
who  quotes  from  Filesacus,  De  Statutis  Theologiae.  Filesacus  lived  in  the  six- 
teenth century  and  his  authority  for  the  account  is  not  known.  Doubts  of  his 
reliability  have  been  expressed  by  writers  since  Bulaeus,  in  fact  the  actual  existence 
of  the    college   at  any    time   has   been  questioned.     See  Budinszky,  pp.  70-72.  ; 

Denifle  makes  no  mention  of   the  college   whatever  in  his  great   Chartularium  '  '^  { 

Universitatis  Parisiensis.     Rashdall  has  a  short  paragraph  on  the  subject  accept-  ^4  ^j  «  <: 

ing  substantially  the  story  of  Filesacus,  vol.  i,  p.  486.  >  \ 

'Budinszky,  pp.  71-2.     (Based  on  Bulaeus,  vol.  iv,  pp.  364-374.)  ^     .  , 

'  "  Quosdam  pueros  tarn  in  arabica  quam  in  aliis  Unguis  orientalium  partium 
peritos  Parisius  mitti  disposuimus  ad  studendum,  ut  in  sacra  pagina  docente  vias 
mandatorum  Domini  eruditi  alios  in  ultramarinis  part.ibus  erudiant  ad  salutem. 
Ne  igitur  iidem  pueri,  qui  iam  sunt  decem  Parisius,  ab  incepto  studio  pro  neces- 
sariorum  defectu  desistere  compellantur  mandamus,  etc."  Denifle,  Chartularium , 
vol.  i,  p.  212. 


r 


24 


MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM 


years  thereafter  occasional  letters  from  popes  to  chancellors 
urging  greater  diligence  in  the  collecting  of  the  sums  needful 
for  the  "  ten  poor  transmarine  clerks  "  at  Paris  testify  to  some 
persistence  of  papal  interest  in  the  project,  and  to  the  actual 
presence  of  such  clerks  in  the  university.'  After  1286  one 
hears  no  more  of  the  matter.^  It  is  difficult  to  say  how  far 
results  were  fruitful  in  the  missionary  field.  It  is  of  more 
concern  to  our  special  subject  to  note  that  in  the  middle  of 
the  thirteenth  century  there  were  beside  the  two  or  three 
Dominican  scholars  from  Greece  these  other  young  men 
who  spoke  the  Oriental  languages  at  Paris. 

The  next  stirring  of  the  Western  conscience  on  the  sub- 
ject of  religious  propagandism  produced  a  modification  in 
methods.  Possibly  the  failure  of  previous  projects  as  well  as 
of  the  religious  union  accomplished  by  the  Council  of  Lyons 
may  have  given  rise  to  doubts  as  to  the  reliability  of  Greeks 
as  missionaries  to  their  own  countrymen.  Oriental  teachers 
were  now  to  be  brought  from  abroad  to  furnish  the  neces- 
sary linguistic  training  but  the  missionaries  themselves  were 
to  be  true  born  sons  of  the  Roman  Church.  In  the  latter 
years  of  the  century  Raymond  Lull,  the  philosopher  and  en- 
thusiast, obtained  from  King  James  of  Aragon  an  endowment 
for  a  convent  at  Palma  in  the  island  of  Majorca  where  thirteen 
brothers  might  study  Arabic  in  preparation  for  missionary 
careers  among  the  Saracens. 3     During  the  excitement  which 

^  Denifle,  Chart,  vol.  i,  pp.  212,  372,  638.  The  same  documents  are  quoted 
in  Jourdain,  Recherches,  pp.  225-7. 

*  We  know  of  one  later  instance  of  the  attendance  of  a  Greek  at  Paris.  Peter 
Philargi,  a  Cretan  by  birth,  studied  both  there  and  at  Oxford  toward  the  latter 
part  of  the  fourteenth  century.  He  became  identified  with  the  West  and  was 
finally  elected  pope  Alexander  V  by  the  Council  of  Pisa. 

'  For  a  good,  brief  account  of  Lull  see  Le  Roulx,  La  France  en  Orient,  vol.  i. 
p.  28,  et  seq.  Lea,  History  of  the  Inquisition,  vol.  iii,  p.  578,  et  seq.  King  Jamea 
of  Aragon  appears  to  have  taken  an  exceptional  interest  for  a  layman  in  the  prob- 
lem of  converting  the  East.  He  was  the  one  prince  to  attend  the  sessions  of  the 
Council  of  Lyons.     Hefele,  vol.  vi,  p.  132. 


MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM 


25 


followed  the  tidings  of  the  fall  of  St.  John  d'Acre  he  went 
about  Italy  appealing  to  princes  and  prelates  to  substitute 
schools  of  Oriental  languages  where  men  might  be  trained  to 
convert  infidels,  for  the  armed  expeditions  which  destroyed 
much  and  profited  little  for  the  redemption  of  souls.  He  ad- 
dressed formal  letters  to  King  Philip  of  France,  to  an  ecclesias- 
tical friend  at  the  French  court  and  to  the  University  of 
Paris  urging  with  intense  earnestness  the  foundation  by  royal 
munificence  of  "  a  school  of  Arabic,  Tartar  and  Greek  where 
we  might  learn  the  speech  of  our  adversaries,  who  are  like- 
wise God's,  and  then  through  preaching  and  teaching  might 
overcome  their  errors  by  the  sword  of  truth  and  make  of 
them  a  nation  acceptable  to  God  and  convert  them  from 
enemies  to  friends."  "  All  the  virtue  contained  in  the  books 
of  the  Greeks  and  the  Arabs,"  he  pleads,  "will  become  known 
to  you  when  you  understand  their  tongues  without  an  inter- 
preter."'    An  ally  on  this  subject  appeared  fn  the  person  of 

'"  .  .  .  fundaretur  studium  Arabicum,  Tartaricum  et  Grecum,  ut  nos  linguas 
adversariorum  Dei  et  nostrorum  docti  predicando  et  docendo  illos  possimus  in 
gladio  veritatis  eorum  vincere  falsitates  et  reddere  populum  Deo  acceptabilem  et 
ininiicos  convertere  in  amicos  .  .  .  Quid  habebunt  boni  Greci  et  Arabes  in  vol- 
uminibus  suis  quin  sit  tibi  notum,  cum  sine  interprete  linguas  eorum  intellexer- 
itis?"  Denifle,  Chart.,  vol.  ii,  p.  84.  All  three  letters  are  printed  in  Martene, 
Thesaurus,  vol.  i,  pp.  1315-1319.  A  more  eloquent  plea  for  a  missionary  knowl- 
edge of  Greek  and  Hebrew,  made  by  Roger  Bacon  from  his  cell  at  Paris,  passed 
quite  unheeded.  "  Nam  multi  Greci  et  Chaldei  et  Armeni  et  Syri  et  Arabes  et  alia- 
rum  linguarum  nationes  subiiciuntur  Ecclesie  Latinorum  cum  quibus  habet  multa 
ordinare  et  illis  varia  mandare.  Sed  non  possunt  hec  rite  pertractari  et,  ut  oportet, 
utiliter  nisi  Latini  scirent  linguarum  huiusmodi  rationem.  Cuius  signum  est  quod 
omnes  dicte  nationes  vacillant  fide  et  moribus  et  negligunt  ordines  Ecclesie  salu- 
tares,  quia  persuasion  em  sinceram  non  recipiunt  in  lingua  materna."  Op.  Mai., 
vol.  iii,  p.  118.  "  Tertio  linguarum  cognitio  necessaria  est  Latinis  propter  conver- 
sionem  infidelium.  Nam  in  manibus  Latinorum  residet  potestas  convertendi. 
Et  ideo  pereunt  ludei  inter  nos  infiniti  quia  nuUus  eis  scit  predicare  nee  scripturas 
interpretari  in  lingua  eorum  nee  conferre  cum  eis  nee  disputare  ,  ,  .  Deinde 
Greci  et  Rutheni  et  multi  alii  schismatici  similiter  in  errore  perdurant  quia  non 
predicatur  eis  Veritas  in  eorum  lingua  .  .  .  Nee  valet  belium  contra  eos  quoniam 
aliquando  confunditur  Ecclesia  in  bello  Christanorum,  ut  ultra  mare  sepe  accidit, 


26  MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM 

the  government  lawyer,  Peter  Dubois.  In  his  book  "  De 
Recuperatione  Terre  Sancte,"  put  forth  in  1 306  he  argued  that 
no  gains  of  the  crusades  could  be  permanent  while  East  and 
West  were  separated  by  such  barriers  of  language  and  re- 
ligion. He  advocated  therefore  the  establishment  of  schools 
for  both  sexes  where  Greek,  Arabic  and  other  Oriental 
tongues  should  be  taught,  and  physicians,  teachers  and 
priests  should  be  prepared  to  spread  in  different  ways  the 
Latin  faith.' 

To  return  to  Lull,  some  years  passed  without  a  tangible 
result  of  his  exertions.  Everywhere  his  orthodoxy  and 
fervor  were  admitted  but  assistance  more  substantial  than 
testimonials  of  character  was  hard  to  obtain.  At  length  in 
the  summer  of  13 10  the  chapter  general  of  the  Dominican 
order,  meeting  at  Placentia,  passed  a  resolution  which  must 
have  given  him  encouragement.  It  bore  the  form  of  a  re- 
quest to  the  master  of  the  order  to  set  up  in  some  province 
schools  of  Hebrew,  Greek  and  Arabic  and  to  permit  the 
brethren  of  each  province  to  send  one  student  to  each  school 
along  with  the  proper  contribution  for  the  support  of  the 
undertaking.*     In  131 1    the  old    man  made    his   way   to  the 

et  maxime  in  ultimo  exercitu,  scilicet  domini  Regis  Francie  ut  totus  mundus  (scit). 
.  .  .  Nee  sic  convertuntur  sed  occiduntur  et  mittuntur  in  infernum.  Residui  vero 
qui  supersunt  post  bella  filii  eorum  irritantur  magis  ac  magis  contra  fideni  Christi- 
anam  propter  istas  guerras  et  in  infinitum  a  fide  Christi  elongantur  et  inflamman- 
turut  omnia  mala  que  possunt  faciant  Christianis  .  .  .  Preterea  fides  ingressa  non 
est  in  hunc  mundum  per  arma  sed  per  simplicitatem  predicationis,  ut  manifestum 
est  .  .  .  O  quam  considerandum  esset  hoc  negotium,  et  timendum  est  ne  Deus 
requirat  a  Latinis  quod  ipsi  negligunt  linguas  ut  sic  negligant  predicationonem 
fidei!"     0/.«'/.,  pp.  120-122. 

^  See  De  Recuperatione,  p.  49  ei  seq.     The  plan  is  expanded  in  some  detail. 

* "  Rogamus  magistrum  Ordinis  quod  ipse  de  tribus  studiis  Hebraico,  Greco  et 
Arabico  provideat  in  aliqua  provincia,  et  cum  fuerint  ordinata  ad  quodlibet  illo- 
rum  quehbet  provmcia  studentem  aptum  et  intelligentem  mittere  possit  cum  con- 
tributione  decenti."  Mon.  Ord.  Praed.  vol.  iv,  p.  50.  Denifle,  Chart,  vol.  ii,  p. 
143.     Martene    Ihesatirns,  vol.  iv,  p.  1927. 


MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM 


27 


church  council  assembhng  at  Vienne  hoping  for  further  action 
there.  He  won  his  victory  in  a  decree  passed  in  the  spring 
of  13 1 2  directing  the  estabhshment  of  schools  of  Oriental 
languages  in  connection  with  the  Roman  Curia  and  the  Uni- 
versities of  Paris,  Oxford,  Bologna  and  Salamanca,  "that  in 
each  place  Catholic  teachers  may  be  appointed  who  have  an 
adequate  understanding  of  Hebrew,  Greek,  Arabic  and 
Chaldee,  two  men  adept  in  each  tongue, — these  to  preside 
over  the  schools,  translate  books  from  their  own  speech 
faithfully  into  Latin,  teach  the  languages  diligently  to  others 
and  by  painstaking  instruction  infuse  them  with  knowledge," 
the  expense  to  be  met  by  contributions  levied  upon  the 
churches  and  monasteries  of  the  various  countries/  The 
chief  motive  was,  of  course,  missionary,  the  new  translations 
of  Oriental  literature  being  mentioned  incidentally  as  worthy 
subjects  of  occupation  for  the  spare  time  of  the  professors. 
How  much  efTect  the  decree  had  upon  the  universities  is 
difficult  to  decide  in  the  defective  condition  of  the  records. 
Some  small  attempts  at  compliance  were  made  certainly  by 
Oxford  and  Paris.  A  few  years  after  the  meeting  of  the 
council  funds  were  collected  in  England  for  the  support  of 
a  converted  Jew  teaching  the  Hebrew  and  Greek  languages 
at  Oxford.""  In  13 19  and  1320  French  churches  were  send- 
ing remittances  to  Paris  for  the  use  of  another  renegade  Jew 
who  was  ofTering  instruction  in  Hebrew  and  Chaldee.^  In  1 326 

^ "  Ut  in  quolibet  locorum  ipsorum  teneantur  viri  catholici  sufficientem  habentes 
hebraice,  grece,  arabice  et  chaldaice  linguarum  notitiam,  duo  videlicet  uniuscuius- 
que  lingue  periti,  qui  scolas  regant  inibi,  et  libros  de  linguis  ipsis  in  latinum  fideliter 
transferentes,  alios  linguas  ipsas  sollicite  doceant,  earumque  peritiam  studiosa  in 
illos  instructione  transfundant."  Denifle  C^a;Y.  vol.  ii,  p.  155.  Friedberg  in  Ci^r/. 
y»r.  C««.,  Clemen.  V,  tit.  I,  cap.  i,  gives  the  text  of  the  whole  decree  but  prefers 
to  omit  the  word  "  grece  "  from  the  list  of  languages.  Denifle  includes  it  on  the 
ground  that  John  XXII  mentioned  Greek  with  the  rest  in  his  letter  on  the  decree, 
July  1326. 

*  Rashdall,  vol.  ii,  p.  459,  note  4. 

'  Denifle,  Chart,  vol.  ii,  pp.  228,  237. 


28  MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM 

Pope  John  XXII  wrote  to  Hugo,  Bishop  of  Paris,  to  in- 
quire how  far  the  ordinance  of  the  Council  of  Vienne  was 
being  observed,  how  many  teachers  of  the  four  languages 
had  been  appointed,  how  many  students  were  attending 
their  lectures  and  what  sums  had  been  raised  for  their  main- 
tenance.' Unfortunately  the  bishop's  reply  is  lost.  The 
Parisian  archives  show  no' other  sign  of  attention  to  the 
decree  for  a  century  more.  In  1421  we  find  allusions  to  the 
sad  vicissitudes  of  one  Paul  de  Bonnefoy,  also  a  converted 
Jew  and  a  doctor  of  Hebrew  and  Chaldee,  who  for  lack  of 
remuneration  for  his  services  was  in  want  of  food  and  cloth- 
ing for  his  wife  and  children,  Henry  V  of  England  during 
his  stay  in  Paris  had  come  to  his  relief  with  fifty  francs  and 
had  promised  him  fifty  more.  In  an  appeal  to  Henry  to 
remember  his  promise,  the  authorities  declared  that  though 
the  council  ordered  the  appointment  of  several  doctors  of 
Greek  and  Hebrew,  it  was  all  that  a  single  one  could  do  to 
make  a  living  by  honorable  means. "^  In  1424  the  faculty  of 
theology  contributed  sixteen  soldi  toward  Paul's  salary. 3 
With  this  item  disappears  all  mention  of  the  Council  of 
Vienne.'^  Its  commands  had  fallen  on  indifferent  ears  and 
had  remained  practically  fruitless.  The  West  as  a  whole 
cared  little  for  teachers  from  the  East,  paid  them  grudgingly 
or  half  starved  them  when  they  came. 

More  perhaps  was  done  during  the  same  centuries  to  keep 

'  Denifle,  Chart,  vol.  ii,  p.  293-4. 

^ "  Cum  ex  antiqua  ordinatione  debeant  esse  in  Universitate  doctores  Hebrei  et 
Greci  et  de  present!  solum  sit  unus  doctor  Hebreus,  qui  propter  iniquitatem  tem- 
poris  vix  potest  victum  et  vestitum  honeste  continuare,  etc."  Denifle,  Chart,  vol. 
iv.  pp.  394-5  and  401. 

'  Ibid,  p.  430. 

*In  1430  the  Gallic  nation  demanded  the  appointment  of  teachers  of  Greek, 
Hebrew  and  Chaldee  but  made  no  reference  to  any  missionary  purpose  nor  to  the 
Council  of  Vienne.  It  seems  reasonable  to  connect  this  action  with  the  rise  of  a 
humanist  sentiment  in  France.     Ibid,  p.  505. 


MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM 


29 


the  knowledge  of  the  Greek  language  from  total  extinction 
by  colonies  of  Greek  descent  settled  in  the  South.  From 
the  period  of  the  iconoclastic  persecutions  of  the  ninth  and 
tenth  centuries  and  the  flight  to  South  Italy  and  Sicily  of 
Byzantine  Christians  who  refused  to  resign  their  images, 
Greek  became  again  a  living  tongue  in  certain  districts  as  it 
is  yet  to  this  day  in  a  few  mountain  hamlets  of  Apulia  and 
Calabria.  Greek  monks  entered  Italian  monasteries  or 
formed  new  congregations  following  the  rule  of  St.  Basil  and 
subject  in  many  cases  to  the  patriarch  at  Constantinople. 
Over  two  hundred  of  these  are  said  to  have  been  in  existence 
by  the  eleventh  century.'  In  1098  after  conferring  upon 
Duke  Roger  the  temporal  control  of  the  kingdom  of  Sicily, 
Pope  Urban  II  called  an  ecclesiastical  synod  at  Bari  to  settle 
the  afTairs  of  the  Church,  and  somewhat  rashly  entered  into 
a  debate  with  the  Southern  bishops  over  the  nature  of  the 
Procession  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  ^  The  bishops  defended  the 
Greek  doctrine  with  ability  and  Urban  might  have  found 
himself  embarrassed  by  their  logic,  had  not  Anselm  of  Canter- 
bury been  at  hand  to  save  the  situation  by  an  array  of  irre- 
futable arguments  for  the  Roman  cause.  From  that  date 
the  Italian  churches,  as  a  whole,  yielded  obedience  to  the  See 
of  Peter.  In  many,  however,  the  liturgy  was  still  performed 
in  Greek  and  certain  customs  of  the  Greek  Church  were  pre- 
served, such  as  the  use  of  unleavened  bread  in  the  sacrifice.  ^ 
From  them  in  time  came  ardent  promoters  of  the  union  of  the 
Greek  and   Latin  communions.     Even  into  Benedict's  own 

^  Tozer,  yournal  of  Hellenic  Studies,  vol.  lo,  pp.  3S-9. 

^  Hefele,  vol.  v,  pp.  253-4. 

^  In  1426  the  humanist  Barbaro  discovered  a  monastery  in  Tusculanum,  "  ubi  a 
Graecis  sacerdotibus  ritu  Graeco  colitur  Deus;  quoin  loco  multa  vetustatis  monu- 
menta  Graecis  et  Latinis  litteris  illustrata  invenimus;  et  ibi  fere  nemo  est  qui  lit- 
leraturae  Graecae  expers  sit."  Barbaro,  Centotrente  Lettere,  p.  70.  Greek  was 
employed  in  liturgies  until  the  seventeenth  century  vifhen  Sixtus  IV  decreed  that 
all  church  services  should  be  in  Latin. 


^ 


30  MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM 

convent  at  Monte  Cassino  the  influence  penetrated  and  once 
a  year  mass  was  celebrated  in  both  languages. ' 

Moreover  Basilian  traditions  favored  literary  employment 
for  the  monks,  though  the  long  separation  from  the  centre 
of  Greek  activity  at  Constantinople  inevitably  resulted  in  a 
slow  deterioration  of  the  grade  of  work  done  in  these  remote 
outposts.  They  were  not,  however,  aggressive  bodies. 
They  neither  proselytized  to  any  extent  nor  invited  outsiders 
to  their  schools.  As  a  consequence  their  influence  in  keep- 
ing Greek  alive  in  the  West  was  not  much  felt  beyond  their 
own  boundaries.  Only  here  and  there  a  little  translating 
was  done  or  a  little  instruction  imparted  to  one  who  volun- 
tarily sought  them.  Alfano,  who  became  archbishop  of 
Salerno  toward  the  close  of  the  eleventh  century,  left  behind 
aversion  of  the  treatise  on  Human  Nature  by  Nemesius. '^ 
Nicholas  of  Tarentum  at  the  beginning  of  the  thirteenth 
century  served  as  interpreter  to  the  cardinal  sent  by  Inno- 
cent III  to  discuss  at  Athens,  Thessalonica  and  Constanti- 
nople, the  ever  vexed  problem  of  church  union.  In  1207  he 
copied  out  for  the  cardinal  a  Greek  text  of  the  Donation  of 
Constantine  from  a  manuscript  "  in  the  great  Palace  in  Con- 
stantinople." He  was  the  author  of  various  argumentative 
works  on  theological  and  metaphysical  topics  and  translated 
several  of  his  compositions  into  Latin.  3  Roger  Bacon  in  the 
last  years  of  the  century  mentions  the  possibility  of  learning 

^  Cramer,  vol.  i,  p.  28. 

^  Jourdain,  Recherches,  p.  72. 

^  A  note  on  his  copy  of  the  Donation  of  Constantine  ends  as  follows :  "  TtP.of 
rfti;  6ia-&f]Krig  koL  Siara^euQ  tov  fieyrJ^v  Kal  ev  ayioig  Kuvcrravivov,  y  rig  hj  parj)?}  napa 

l>iiKo?idov  'TcipovvTivov  EV  rcj  jLteydTiu  Ha/larZw   h  KuvaTavTivoviroAei 7?f 

npoTpowy  TOV  Kvpov  BeveSinTov  tov  Kapdiva?dov  nai  tottottipt/tov  'Ipvoksvtiov  tov 
Tp'iTov  Udna'Vuju.vg-  rjv  yap  t6t£  6  Trpopj/^elc  'NiKoMog  k^E/J.Tjviarriq  Kal  ep/ir/vevg 
avTov  roij  Kap6iva7uov  Kal  tuv  TpaUuv  kv  Toig  tuv  Tvcpl  So^ficiTuv  Sia'As^emv." 
Bandini,  Cat.  Codd.  Lat.,  vol.  i,  p.  295.  See  also  Bandini,  Cat.  Codd.  Grace, 
vol.  i,  pp.  35,  60-2. 


MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM  3 1 

Greek  in  South  Italy  from  people  who  used  it  as  their  ordi- 
nary speech. '  In  the  fourteenth  century  Barlaam,  a  Basi- 
lian  monk  from  Calabria,  was  the  one  Italian  whom  Petrarch 
could  secure  to  teach  him  to  read  Plato. - 

Beside  its  religious  centres  South  Italy  contained  the  most 
famous  for  many  years  of  all  European  schools  of  medicine, 
the  assemblage  of  lay  doctors  at  Salerno.  Even  before  the 
middle  of  the  eleventh  century  some  of  the  works  of  Galen 
and  Hippocrates  were  utilized  in  old  Latin  translations  but 
their  influence  on  the  crude  and  barbarous  methods  in  vogue 
was  slight.  With  the  medical  revival  of  the  latter  half  of  the 
century  and  the  adoption  of  more  enlightened  systems  of 
therapeutics  there  appear  traces  of  a  more  direct  acquaint- 
ance with  the  Greek  masters,  enough  to  justify  perhaps  the 
assumption  that  the  teachers  were  consulting  texts  of  the 
original. 3  Adelard  of  Bath,  a  traveller  in  the  South  during 
the  first  half  of  the  twelfth  century  speaks  of  hearing  a  Greek 
philosopher  lecture  near  Salerno  on  magnetic  attraction,  a 
subject  for  which  the  yet  untranslated  works  of  Aristotle 
must  have  been  consulted.  ^  In  the  thirteenth  century  Thad- 
deus  of  Florence  delivered  a  celebrated  series  of  medical 
discourses  at  Bologna  which  constitutec^  in  reality  the  found- 
ing of  a  scientific  medical  school  in  the  city.  He  is  said  to 
have  based  his  doctrines  largely  on  the  Arab  writers  but  to 
have  referred  at  times  to  the  original  Greek,  s 

1  Bacon,  Opus  Teri.,  p.  33;  Greek  Grammar,  p.  31.  According  to  Bacon, 
Grosseteste  sent  for  monks  from  South  Italy  to  help  in  his  translations  "  quorum 
aliqui  in  Anglia  usque  ad  hec  tempora  sunt  superstites."  Comp.  Stud.,"^.  ^■^i\; 
Tiraboschi,  Sior.  d.  Lett.  Ital.,  vol.  iv,  pt.  ii,  p.  343. 

^  See  infra,  p.  90. 

'  Rashdall,  vol.  i,  p.  78-9, 

*  Adelard,  De  Eodem  et  Diverse.     Quoted  by  Rashdall.  vol.  i,  p.  8,  n.  i. 

^Rashdall,  vol.  i,  p.  236  and  n.  3.  Bandini  ascribes  to  Thaddeus  a  transla- 
tion of  the  Ethics  of  Aristotle.     Bib.  Leap.,  vol.  iii,  p.  188. 


32 


MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM 


From  the  South  Italian  groups  of  either  lay  or  clerical 
scholars  Frederic  II,  Emperor  of  Germany  and  King  of 
Naples,  obtained  the  "  select  men  skilled  in  utterance  in  both 
languages "  who  translated  afresh  the  logical  and  mathe- 
matical works  of  Aristotle  for  presentation  to  the  Universities 
of  Paris  and  Bologna.^  Under  Manfred,  Bartholomew  of 
Messina,  a  member  of  the  court  prepared  a  version  of  Aris- 
totle's Magna  Moralia  and  dedicated  it  to  his  royal  patron.  '^ 
In  the  next  century  Paolo  Perugino  collected  at  Naples  a 
famous  library  of  Greek  as  well  as  Latin  manuscripts  for 
Robert,  King  of  Sicily  and  Jerusalem. 3  Thus  as  a  figure  in 
a  king's  household,  a  scientific  lecture  room  or  a  convent 
library,  the  Greek  scholar  never  completely  disappeared  from 
South  Italy.  One  had  to  seek  him  in  his  home,  however, 
to  find  or  even  to  hear  of  him.  He  counted  for  practically 
nothing  as  a  literary  stimulus  to  the  rest  of  Europe. 

Nevertheless  the  men  of  the  Middle  Ages  were  not  en- 
tirely confined  in  their  knowledge  of  Greek  to  the  fragments 
brought  from  the  South  or  East  by  their  contemporaries. 
Many  a  provincial  clerk  who  had  never  in  his  life  spoken 
with  one  who  had  seen  Athens  or  Byzantium  was  yet  able  to 

^  Frederic's  letter  to  the  masters  and  scholars  of  Bologna  gives  his  reasons  for 
procuring  the  new  translation  :  "  Dum  liborum  ergo  volumina,  quorum  multifarie 
muliisque  modis  distincta  chirographa  nostrarum  armaria  divitiarum  locupletant, 
sedula  meditatione  revolvimus  et  accurata  contemplatione  pensamus  compilationes 
varie  ab  Aristotele  aliisque  Philosophis  sub  grecis  arabicisque  vocabulis  antiquitus 
edite  in  sermocinalibus  et  mathematicis  disciplinis  nostris  aliquando  sensibus  oc- 
currerunt.  Quas  adhuc  originalium  dictionibus  confertas  et  vetustarum  vestium 
quas  eis  etas  prima  concesserat,  operimento  contectas  vel  hominis  defectus  aut 
operis  ad  Latine  lingue  notitiam  non  perduxit.  Volentes  igitur  ut  veneranda 
tantorum  operum  similis  auctoritas  apud  nos  non  absque  commodo  omnis  vocis 
organo  traducte  innotescat,  ea  per  viros  electos  et  in  utriusque  lingue  prolatione 
peritos  instanter  iussimus  verborum  fideliter  servata  virginitate  transferri."  Tra- 
versari,  vol.  i,  p.  civ. 

'^  Jourdain,  Recherches,  p.  71.     Tiraboschi,  vol.  iv.  pt.  I,  p.  162. 

'Nolhac,  Petrarque,  p.  322. 


MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM  33 

give  a  tone  of  erudition  to  his  book  by  a  few  Greek  words  or 
phrases,  rightly  or  wrongly  spelled,  or  by  allusion  to  Greek 
derivations. '  Something  might  be  extracted  from  the  pages 
of  Latin  literature.  Certain  of  the  classic  writers,  Cicero, 
Seneca,  Pliny  and  others,  had  employed  occasionally  a 
Greek  noun  or  adjective  to  express  an  idea  which  had  no 
satisfactory  equivalent  in  Latin,  or  had  quoted  a  clause  or  a 
line  from  an  admired  Greek  model.  The  compilers  and 
commentators  of  the  fifth  and  sixth  centuries  furnished  in- 
formation in  a  more  didactic  and  explicit  form.  Fulgentius, 
for  example,  a  clerical  scholar  of  that  later  age,  had  drawn 
up  in  the  shape  of  a  concise  encyclopedia  the  legends  of 
Hellenic  gods  and  heroes,  and  had  explained  with  unhesi- 
tating reliance  upon  the  imagination  the  inner  significance 
of  their  names, ^     Macrobius,  Servius  and  others  of  their  type 

'  Roger  Bacon  gives  a  list  of  nearly  three  hundred  Greek  words  which  he  says 
were  in  general  use  in  his  da)',  words  which  had  been  borrowed  by  the  Romans 
centuries  before,  such  as  abyssus,  agon,  antidotum,  basis,  calamus,  etc.  He  in- 
cludes mistakenly  some  that  are  not  Greek,  imber,  legio,  margarita.  He  adds 
special  lists  of  seventy-five  ecclesiastical  and  forty  scientific  terms — anathema, 
angelus,  apostolus,  baptize,  Catholicus,  deus,  diaboius,  alphabetum,  problema, 
analytica,  geometrica.  Comp.  Stud.,  pp.  441-444.  Of  course  the  multitude  who 
used  the  commoner  words  did  so  without  any  consciousness  of  their  difference 
from  the  Latin,  but  scholars  recognized  them  as  non-Latin  and  discussed  their 
origin  and  composition.  They  were  often  inclined  like  Bacon  himself  to  classify 
as  Greek  any  words  that  appeared  foreign,  e.g.  "Bar  grece  fihus  latine  dicitur." 
Abelard,  in  Cousin,  p.  375.  "  Pascha  non  sicut  quidam  estimant  grecum  nomen 
est,  sed  hebreum."  Anonymous  sermon  of  the  twelfth  century.  Quoted  in 
Bandini,  Bib.  Leop.,  vol.  i,  p.  417.     See  infra, -p.  40,  n,  i. 

^  I  quote  two  typical  passages.  In  his  account  of  the  history  and  functions  of 
Neptune  he  remarks,  "  quem  ideo  Graece  etiam  Posidona  nuncupant,  quasi 
TToioiivTa  iiduv,  quod  nos  Latine  facientem  imaginem  dicimus :  ilia  videlicet  ra- 
tione  quod  hoc  solum  elementum  imagines  in  se  formet  spectantium."  Mytho- 
logicon  in  Mythographi,  vol.  ii,  p.  37.  "  Bellorophonta  posuerunt  quasi  iiovlr]- 
(pofMvvra,  quod  nos  Latine  sapientiae  consihalorem  dicimus  ...  At  vero  Bello- 
rophon,  id  est  bona  consultatio,  qualem  equum  sedet  nisi  Pegasum  ?  quasi  pega- 
seor,  id  est  fontem  aeternum.  Sapientia  enim  bonae  consultationis  aeternus 
fons  est."     Op.  cit.,  pp.  102-3. 


/ 


';,j.  MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM 

offered  to  a  diligent  searcher  numerous  similar  illustrations 
of  Greek  lore. ' 

Much  else  had  been  preserved  in  various  ways  by  the 
church.  The  writings  of  the  early  fathers,  Ambrose,  Aug- 
ustine and  Jerome,  contained  numerous  terms  taken  from 
the  theological  and  philosophical  Greek  of  their  time.  Here 
and  there  even  in  the  North  a  Greek  liturgy  or  chant  sur- 
vived from  the  days  when  the  Eastern  and  Western  Churches 
were  one  and  their  languages  interchangeable.  Down  to  the 
Revolution  a  Greek  mass  was  celebrated  annually  in  the 
chapel  of  St.  Denis  in  Paris  in  honor  of  the  nationality  of  its 
reputed  founder.  -  For  many  centuries  it  was  common  on 
Good  Friday  to  chant  in  the  churches  the  following  verse: 

"/'Aj-v-Of  6  dsSt; 
aycog  Icrxvpd^ 
ayiog  aBavaroQ 
k'Ah/aov  yfj-ciQ." ' 

Otto,  Bishop  of  Freising  in  the  twelfth  century,  ascribes 
the  custom  to  a  deliverance  from  an  earthquake  by  the  sing- 
ing of  the  hymn  in  the  reign  of  Theodosius.  ^  A  peculiarly 
potent  and  solemn  character  might  well  have  been  attributed 
/  to  the  mysterious  syllables.     At  Rome,  Aries  and  St.  Gall 

the   Gloria,  Credo   and    Paternoster  were   sung   in  Greek  at 
certain  services.  ^     The  Kyrie  Eleison  resounded  always  and 

^"  Tres  modi  locutionum  sunt,  quos  caracteres  Graeci  vocant  ianvoK;,  qui  tenuis, 
Addossos  qui  moderatus,  Adhos  qui  validus  intelligitur.  Tribus  modis  carmen 
inducitur.  Est  enim  modus  arammaticos,  est  ammaticos,  est  myctos.  Aram- 
maticos  est  in  quo  personae  inducuntur.  Ammaticos  qui  et  ^uia  kol  dicitur  in  quo 
Poeta  solus  loquitur.  Myctos  est  ex  utraque  constans."  From  an  eleventh  cen- 
tury manuscript  of  Servius'  Commentary  on  Vergil.  Bandini,  Cat.  Codd,  Lat., 
vol.  ii,  pp.  345-6. 

*  Egger,  U Helltnisme  en  France,  vol.  i,  p.  49. 
'  Cramer,  vol.  i,  p.  6. 

*  Otto  Freis.,  Chronicon,  p.  207. 

*  Cramer,  vol.  ii,  p.  16.     Gidel,  Nouvelles  Etudes,  pp.  227-8. 


MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM 


35 


everywhere.  The  ritual  for  the  consecration  of  a  church 
edifice  required  that  the  officiating  bishop  draw  both  the 
Greek  and  Latin  alphabets  with  his  staff  in  the  earth  outside 
the  door.'  In  Bacon's  time  the  bishops  were  frequently  so 
ignorant  of  the  forms  of  the  Greek  letters  that,  as  he  com- 
plains, the  rite  was  constantly  desecrated  by  the  insertion  of 
irrelevant  or  meaningless  signs.  ^ 

A  rather  more  extensive  and  varied  store  of  information 
could  be  derived  from  a  discriminating  use  of  certain  stand- 
ard text-books,  in  particular  the  Latin  grammars.  Donatus, 
the  author  of  the  fourth  century  treatise  which  served  as  the 
foundation  of  most  language  study  in  the  Middle  Ages,  often 
cited  Greek  forms  in  his  exposition  of  the  rules  of  Latin 
inflection  and  derivation. 3  In  his  concluding  summary  of 
rhetorical  devices  and  figures  of  speech  he  introduced  a 
bristling  array  of  polysyllabic  terms  taken  from  the  Greek 
grammarians,  accompanying  each  with  definition  and  illus- 
tration. The  youthful  student  of  the  first  division  of  the 
trivium  doubtless  looked  in  blank  dismay  at  words  such  as 
cacosyntheta,  perissologia,  episynaliphe,  homoeoteleuton. 
But  the  perserving  searcher  after  knowledge  might  extract 
from  his  Donatus  some  conception  of  a  few  simple  rules  for 
the  formation  of  Greek  nouns  and  the  meaning  of  various 
prepositions  and  roots  in  composition.  He  would  find  less 
light  on  the  Greek  verb  which  seems  to  have  been  ordinarily 

^  A  sort  of  mystical  or  magical  interest  attached  to  the  Greek  alphabet  which 
was  studied  by  men  who  knew  nothing  of  Greek.  Vincent  of  Beauvais  gives  the 
forms  of  the  alphabet  and  explains  the  hidden  significance  of  certain  letters.  T 
stands  for  human  life,  0  means  death,  "  nam  iudices  eandem  literam  appone. 
bant  ad  eorum  nomina  quos  supplicio  afficiebant,  et  dicitur  tetha  apothoy  tana- 
thom,  id  est  a  morte."  T  reminds  one  of  the  shape  of  the  Lord's  cross,  A  and  i2 
were  applied  by  Christ  to  himself.     Spec.  Hist.,  lib.  iv,  cap.  65. 

^  Bacon,    Op.  Mai.,  vol.  iii,  pp.  11 7-8.     Gk,   Grammar, -p^.  25,  S3,  and  Ixxiii. 

'  See  Donatus,  Ars  Grammatica,  passim. 


36 


MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM 


regarded  as  too  unlike  the   Latin  to  be  profitable  for  com- 
parison. 

Yet  more  could  be  gained  by  an  intelligent  perusal  of  the 
second  grammatical  classic  of  the  age,  the  Institutions  of 
Priscian,  an  elaborate  work  in  eighteen  books,  composed  at 
the  opening  of  the  sixth  century.  The  author  liv^ed  and 
taught  for  some  years  in  Constantinople  and  said  of  himself 
that  he  but  put  into  Latin  the  principles  which  he  had 
learned  from  the  Greek  grammarians.'  He  referred  con- 
stantly to  these  models,  especially  Uyscolus  and  Herodian. 
His  allusions  to  Greek  usage  were  throughout  exceedingly 
numerous  and  exact.  Under  favorable  circumstances  one 
might  cull  enough  from  these  pages  to  construct  most  of  the 
Greek  rules  for  noun  declension  and  to  have  ideas  on  the 
treatment  of  verb  stems  and  on  certain  departments  of 
syntax.  Illustrative  quotations  from  Greek  writers,  chiefly 
Homer,  Thucydides,  Plato,  Demosthenes  and  the  dramatists, 
were  introduced  plentifully  in  the  last  book  and  invited  to 
exercise  of  ingenuity  in  reading.  In  short  with  a  fairly 
accurate  copy  of  Priscian  in  his  hands  any  scholar  with  a 
taste  for  linguistics  could  by  a  moderate  amount  of  exertion 
collect  those  odds  and  ends  of  Greek  lore  which  surprise  the 
modern  reader  of  a  twelfth  century  composition  and  which 
at  first  sight  seem  to  indicate  a  real  grasp  of  the  language. 
Before  wondering,  however,  why  the  mass  of  students  re- 
mained so  ignorant  one  must  remember  that  the  average 
scribe  was  too  careless  or  too  clumsy  to  copy  exactly  what 

' "  Conatus  sum  pro  viribus  rem  arduam  quidem,  sed  ofScio  professionis  non 
indebitam,  supra  nominatorum  praecepta  virorum  quae  congrua  sunt  visa  in 
Latinum  transferre  sermonem,  coUectis  etiam  omnibus  fere,  quaecumque  neces- 
saria  nostrorum  quoque  inveniuntur  artium  commentariis  grammaticorum,  quod 
gratum  fore  credidi  temperamentum,  si  ex  utriusque  linguae  moderatoribus  ele- 
gantiora  in  unum  coeant  corpus  meo  labore  faciente,  quia  nee  vituperandum  me 
esse  credo  si  eos  iuiitor  qui  principatum  inter  scriptores  Graios  artis  grammaticae 
possident."     Priscian,  Inslituiiones  Gratnmaticae,  pp.  i-2. 


MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM  37 

he  did  not  understand,  and  that  in  consequence  the  average 
text  was  marred  by  gaps  and  illegibilities  or  downright 
errors,  particularly  in  the  reproduction  of  letters  in  an  un- 
known alphabet.  A  word  or  an  ending  here  and  there  was 
doubtless  all  that  the  ordinary  reader  deciphered  out  of  the 
obscurity/ 

A  century  after  Priscian,  Isidore,  Bishop  of  Seville,  reduced 
all  necessary  knowledge  to  the  compass  of  an  encyclopedia 
of  twenty  books,  which  was  likewise  to  become  one  of  the 
popular  storehouses  of  medieval  learning.  A  resident  of 
Spain,  he  knew  snatches  of  the  colloquial  Greek  of  his  day, 
and  declared  that  in  addition  to  the  four  ancient  dialects 
there  was  another  "  the  common,  in  which  everyone  speaks."^ 
His  first  book,  which  treated  of  grammar,  contained  the 
Greek  alphabet,  a  collection  of  Greek  metrical  terms  and 
signs  and  a  few  illustrations  of  Greek  parts  of  speech. 
Otherwhere  scattered  through  his  chapters  were  Greek  de- 
rivations, some  sufficiently  correct,  others  as  fantastic  as  that 
of  the  word  sibyl,  constructed  from  an  Aeolic  ^i6c.  God,  and 
fiovh},  a  person  who  explains   the  will   of  God  to   men,3  or  y 

again  that  of  the  word  elephant  from  /.600c,  "  because  he  is 
shaped  like  a  mountain."  * 

'  For  errors  in  a  tenth  century  copy  of  Priscian,  see  Thurot,  A'otices  pp.  66-7. 
Bacon  speaks  of  a  common  mistake  in  copying  and  reading  Priscian,  taking 
6  avTo^  as  oXltoq.     Gk.  Grammar,  p.  164. 

" "  KOrt'7,  id  est  mista  sive  communis,  qua  omnes  utuntur."  Isidore,  Etymologiae 
col.  326. 

' "  Proinde  igitur,  quia  divinam  voluntatem  hominibus  interpretari  solebant, 
Sibylla  nominate  sunt."  Ibid.,  col.  309,  The  deterioration  of  even  these  poor 
Greek  forms  through  the  incapacity  of  medieval  scribes  is  illustrated  by  a  passage 
from  Vincent  of  Beauvais,  who  in  the  thirteenth  century  repeated  this  derivation. 
With  him  -;&f  has  become  sibos  and  \iov7ji.  belen.  "Nam  sibos  Eolico  sermone 
deus,  belen  Greci  mentem  nuncupant."  Spec.  Hist.,  lib.  iii,  cap.  102.  Note  also 
Mathevv  Paris'  version  of  this  same  derivation,  Chron.  Mai.,vo\.  i,  p.  51. 

*  "  Quod  formam  montis  preferat.  Grece  enim  mons  7M(pog  dicitur."  Etymolo- 
t^iae,  col.  436. 


38  MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM 

The  example  set  by  Donatus,  Priscian,  Isidore  and  others 
of  broadening  the  view  of  Latin  grammar  by  frequent  refer- 
ence to  the  Greek  was  followed  by  the  authors  of  the  metri- 
cal text-books  of  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries,  which 
to  a  considerable  extent  superseded  the  older  works  in  gen- 
eral favor.  Alexander,  a  Frenchman  from  Ville  Dieu,  about 
the  year  1200  composed  a  Doctrinale  in  hexameter  verse 
which  soon  enjoyed  a  wide  vogue  in  the  schools  of  Northern 
Europe.^  In  the  opening  lines  he  announced  his  purpose 
of  writing  especially  for  the  "  new  little  clerks  .  .  .  and  even 
to  boys  the  greater  part  will  be  plain."  ^  Yet  he  felt  obliged 
to  insert  in  places  the  standard  Greek  illustrations  repro- 
duced from  the  older  grammars.  He  supplied  doggerel 
rules  for  case  endings  in  the  singular  number,  omitting  as  a 
rule  any  consideration  of  the  plural. 

"  With  nominative  in  e  the  Greek  has  genitive  es, 
The  fourth  case  em  or  en,  and  the  rest  as  the  nominative, 
With  nominative  in  os,  the  genitive  then  is  the  same. 
Or  changes  to  oy  in  Greek,  (for  example  melos  and  meloy) 
With  om  in  the  fourth  case,  os  in  the  fifth,  and  o  in  the  last."^ 

He    gave  a  hasty  word  to  Greek  verbs   and  syntax,    men- 
tioned a  few  derivations  and  crowned  all  with  the  customary 

'  Rashdall,  vol.  i,  p.  436. 

*  "  Scribere  clericulis  paro  Doctrinale  novellis  .  .  . 
Si  pueri  primo  nequeant  attendere  plene, 
hie  tamen  attendet,  qui  doctoris  vice  fungens, 
atque  legens  pueris  laica  lingua  reserabit; 
Et  pueris  etiam  pars  maxima  plana  patebit." 

Alexander  de  Villa  Dei,  Doctrinale,  p.  7,  lines  i,  7-10. 

' "  Cum  dedit  e  Grecus  recto,  tenet  es  genitivus, 
Em  aut  en  quartus;   recto  reliquos  sociamus, 
Cum  Greci  rectus  tenet  os,  par  est  genitivus, 
Vel  dat  oy  Grecus  (melos  et  meloy  tibi  testis) 
Quartus  on,  os  quintus,  o  tertius  atque  supremus." 

Doctrinale,  lines  338-342. 


MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM 


39 


list  of  rhetorical  terms,  homozeuxis,  efflexegesis  and  the  like, 
which  he  ingeniously  contrived  to  fit  into  the  meter.  One 
perceives  that  these  disjointed,  futile  bits  of  Greek  lore  had 
become  the  traditional  accompaniments  of  any  compendium 
of  the  Latin  language.'  They  had  ceased  to  be  accurate, 
had  ceased,  one  would  suppose,  to  be  edifying  but  they  were 
still  preserved. 

A  Flemish  contemporary  of  Alexander,  Eberhard  of 
Bethune,  was  the  author  of  a  grammatical  poem  in  hex- 
ameters and  elegiacs,  which  boasted  the  title  Grecismus  and 
included  a  chapter  devoted  particularly  to  Greek  deriva- 
tions. According  to  his  own  slightly  grandiloquent  descrip- 
tion it  told  "  what  were  the  voices  of  Greece  and  of  Latium 
and  what  meaning  they  bore."^  Before  the  close  of  the 
fourteenth  century  it  was  prescribed  by  some  of  the  leading 
universities  of  Europe  for  the  course  in  grammar.^  A  rough 
translation  of  a  few  lines  will  indicate  the  character  of  the 
work. 

"  Universal  is  catha,  from  that  is  catholic, 

And  auricalcon  proves  to  us  that  calcon  is  a  torch. 

En  signifies  the  contrary,  and  hence  elencus  comes. 

The  goat  is  called  egle,  therefrom  the  eclogue  takes  its  name. 

Lectos  in  Greek  is  quiet  rest,  we  have  AUecto  thence, 

And  melody  we  say  because  melos  itself  is  sweet. 

'The  proper  names  which  garnished  the  illustrative  sentences  were  a  part  of 
this  Greek  tradition.  Almost  never  were  they  medieval  or  even  Roman.  "  Con- 
cesso  quod  tu  melior  sis  quam  Plato"  {DoctrinaleMuQ,  1543),  is  a  simple  example. 
Socrates  was  a  name  often  employed. 

^ "  Grecismus  recitat,  peperit  quas  Grecia  voces 
Quas  Latium  dat,  que  significata  ferant." 

Eberhard,  Carmen  de  Versificatiotte; 

quoted  in  Gottlieb,  Mittelalt.  Bib.,  p.  445. 
^  The  Grecismus  and  Doctrinale  were  prescribed  as  grammatical  text-books  by 
the  university  statutes  of  1328  at  Toulouse,  of  1366,  at  Paris,  and  of  1389,  at  Vi- 
enne.     Thurot,  p.  102,  n.  5. 


40 


MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM 


Then  morphos  signifies  a  change,  hence  metamorphoses, 
Orge  the  tiUing  of  the  soil,  we  get  Georgics  so."  ' 

The  material  was  drawn   in  part  apparently  from  Priscian 
and  the  fanciful  etymologies  of  Isidore. 

The  end  of  the  thirteenth  century,  indeed,  saw  the  com- 
position of  a  true  Greek  Grammar  written  in  Latin  for  the 
instruction  of  Latins,  a  serious  attempt  at  a  comprehensive 
discussion  of  all  the  fundamentals  of  the  languge  from  the 
Western  standpoint.  Roger  Bacon,  the  sturdy  philosopher 
and  educational  critic,  had  long  urged  the  desirability  of  re- 
viving the  study  of  the  more  ancient  tongues,  especially 
Greek  and  Hebrew.  Alone  among  the  scholars  of  his  day 
he  persistently  asserted  the  folly  of  a  state  of  complacent 
satisfaction  with  translations  and  the  need  of  a  working 
knowledge  of  Greek  if  one  would  understand  even  the  prin- 
ciples of  Latin.  ^  Some  time  during  the  latter  years  of  his  life 
he  composed  a  manual  of  Greek  grammar  of  considerable 
length,  if  we  may  judge  by  the  proportions  of  the  fragment 
which  survives.     Two  out  of  its  three  parts  were  devoted  to  a 

^"Universale  catha;   fit  catholicus  inde; 
Atque  fecem  calcon  auricalcon  prohat  esse. 
En  contra  signat;    hinc  et  elencus  erit. 
Est  egle  capra;   hinc  egloga  nomen  habet. 
Est  lectos  requies;   Allecto  dicitur  inde, 
Estque  melos  dulcis  ac  inde  melodia  dicas, 
Immutat  morphos;   hinc  metamorphoseos. 
Orge  cultura  est;   die  inde  Georgica  nasci." 

Quoted  byThurot,  pp.  109-110. 
The    following   lines  show   how    Latin   or    Hebrew  words  might  be  taken  as 
Greek : 

"  Estque  bonum  manon;  immanis  comprobat  illud. 
Die  pitos  esse  viam;   dicas  hinc  compita  nasci. 
Quod  bar  filius  est  probat  illud  Bartholomeus, 
Sabbata  sunt  requies;   probat  hoc  ludeus  Apella." 

/did.,  p.  no. 

*  Bacon,  Op.  Maius,  vol.  iii,  pp.  80,  ei  seq.     Op.  Tert.,  pp.  88,  et  seq. 


MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM 


41 


painstaking  treatment  of  orthography,  prosody  and  accen- 
tuation, and  included  a  list  of  correct  forms  of  Greek  words 
used  in  Latin,  azymus,  amethystus,  basyleus,  gymnasium, ' 
another  list  of  words  which  in  the  author's  opinion  should 
be  written  with  an  aspirated  letter,  Achademia,  Athlas, 
methaphora,  thanathos,^  and  a  long  array  of  quotations  from 
Latin  poets  to  illustrate  the  right  and  wrong  accentuation  of 
Greek  derivatives.  3  Texts  of  the  Paternoster,  Ave  Maria, 
Credo,  Magnificat,  Nunc  Dimittis  and  Benedictus  were  given 
in  Greek,  in  a  Latin  transliteration,  and  in  the  usual  Latin 
version  for  use  as  reading  lessons.*  Interspersed  among  all 
this  matter  were  full  discussions  of  general  rules,  Greek 
usage  being  interpreted  as  far  as  possible  by  the  Latin. 
Constant  reference  was  made  to  Priscian  and  the  influence 
of  his  method  and  spirit  was  patent  throughout,  s  The 
third  section  dealing  with  the  subject  of  inflections  is  now 
unfortunately  much  mutilated.  The  part  treating  of  the  first 
and  second  declensions  and  the  simpler  forms  of  the  third  is 
lost,  together  with  that  which  contained  the  conjugation  of 
the  i^t  paradigm  Tidn^i,  following  on  the  conjugation  of  the  w 
model,  rvKTO).  Everything  that  may  have  come  afterwards  is 
also  gone,  including  any  disquisitions  upon  syntax.^ 

The  sources  for  Bacon's  exceptional  knowledge  of  Greek 
have   been   always  problematic.     He  offers  no  explanation 

'Bacon,  Gk.  Grammar,  pp.  61-^8. 

"^  Ibid.,  pp.  133-140. 

^  Ibid.,  pp.  98-128. 

*^  Ibid.,  pp.  17-24. 

'  See  continual  allusions  to  Priscian  in  the  Grammar,  "  Sicut  Priscianus  docet," 
p.  4,  "  Secundum  Priscianum,"  p.  5,  etc.  He  was  also  indebted  often  where  he 
did  not  expressly  say  so. 

•5  A  somewhat  similar,  though  less  systematic  and  still  less  complete  exposition 
of  Bacon's  ideas  on  Greek  etymology  and  prosody,  with  criticisms  on  the  preva- 
lent errors  of  the  time,  iray  be  found  in  Comp.  Stud.,  pp.  432-519. 


42  MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM 

for  his  attainments,  so  that  one  is  driven  to  conjecture  with 
the  aid  of  a  few  vague  hints.  A  pecuHarly  careful  and  suc- 
cessful study  of  a  clear  text  of  Priscian  gave  him  much.  He 
drew  suggestions  also  from  Donatus,  Isidore,  Bede  and  other 
writers  on  language.  Aside  from  these,  the  common  prop- 
erty of  any  medieval  scholar,  he  evidently  had  access  to 
rarer  authority.  He  probably  did  not  know  Herodian  at  first 
hand,  in  spite  of  the  two  quotations  he  boasted  from  the 
Alexandrian  grammarian, '  but  he  assuredly  was  familiar  with 
some  later  Byzantine  manual  some  one  of  the  small  gram- 
matical catechisms  or  "  Erotemata,"  which  presented  the 
rules  of  earlier  philologists  in  a  condensed  and  abridged 
form.  His  paradigms  are  those  of  the  Byzantine  schools, 
comprehending  certain  rarely  used  nouns  and  the  verb  r/rrrw. 
The  latter  he  conjugates  through  all  imaginable  forms,  placing 
£av  before  the  subjunctive  mood  as  did  the  Byzantines.''  His 
reading  material,  the  Paternoster,  Ave  and  Creed,  is  the 
same  as  that  commonly  employed  in  the  Greek  text-books. 
The  Creed,  is  the  Eastern  Creed  and  lacks  the  clause, 
"  ml  kii  Tovvi.ov."i  Finally  he  refers  now  and  again  explicitly 
to  a  "  grecus,"  and  in  his  chapters  on  inflection,  where  Pris- 
cian failed  him  and  a  Greek  manual  would  be  practically  his 
only  guide,  he  quotes  occasionally  fragments  of  questions 
and  answers.-*  Perhaps  he  had  seen  the  "  Greek  Donatus" 
brought   back   from  Athens    by  John    of   Basingstoke.      He 

^  Gk.  Grammar,  pp.  46  and  55. 

'^  Op.  cti.,pp.  Ix,  et  seq.  Cf.  Heiberg,  Byzantinische  Zeitschrift,\o\.  ix,  pp.  472, 
tt  seq. 

^  Gk.  Grammar,  p.  20. 

*  "  Si  sequar  grecos  auctores  in  grammatica  eorum."  Op.  cit.  p.  165.  "Et  si  grecus 
querat  iroca  ax'iuara  dicemus  tria,  nn/.ovv,  quod  est  simplex,  mwOsTov,  quod  est 
compositum,  Trapaavv&iTov,  qnod  est  decompositum,"  etc.,  p.  152.  "  Querit  igitur 
grecus  7;— rw,  no'mv  fiepovg  ?.6ynv  kari;  pi;fuiTor  .-oia~  syKTilaeug ;  opi.oTinfic,"  etc. 
p.  173.  He  describes  the  "  morem  grecum,"  mode  of  instruction  by  questions  and 
answers,  p.  171. 


MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM 


43 


certainly  knew  Grosseteste,  and  mentions  the  "books  on 
Greek  grammar  "  which  had  been  imported  by  him  from  the 
East.'  The  pronunciation  which  he  gives  for  the  Greek  of 
the  Paternoster,  Ave  and  other  extracts  proves  also  that  he 
had  heard  the  spoken  Greek  of  the  day  with  its  tendency 
toward  slighting  the  distinction  between  vowel  sounds.^  He 
may  have  listened  to  Basingstoke  or  some  other  travelled 
monk  who  worked  for  Grosseteste,  or  to  some  one  of  the 
Oriental  clerks  studying  in  Paris. 

The  sum  of  Bacon's  achievements  in  Greek  is,  therefore, 
considerable.  He  had  a  fair  comprehension  of  the  rules  of 
etymology  and  probably  of  syntax  as  formulated  by  Greek 
philologians  of  his  own  or  an  earlier  time.  He  could  de- 
clare emphatically  that  a  treatise  on  grammar,  attributed  by 
many  of  his  contemporaries  to  Aristotle,  was  the  product  of 
some  Latin  author  who  wrote  "  out  of  his  own  head,"  not 
from  the  Greek  standpoint  at  all  but  as  a  bungling,  ill-taught 
Westerner.  3  Of  his  own  Grammar  he  could  say  that  it  was 
a  simple,  introductory  hand-book,  designed  to  enable  the 
student    merely    to    understand    Greek    allusions    in    Latin 

'  op.  Tert.,  p.  91. 

*  I  quote  an  example  from  the  Magnificat  : 

"  Kathile    dunastas    apo    thronon  ke     ypsose     tapinus     pinontas     eneplisen 

Ko^n/.e    (IvvaoTag    anb     Opovuv     Knl     vipum-     Ta-eiroL<(;    ireavvTat;    evenhjaiv 

agathon    ke      plutuntas       exapestile     kenus,     antelaueto     israil      pedos    autu 

aya'&uv    imI   liAovrovvraq    ffrtTreoTtv/lf    Kevorc,    iivTa'AapsTo   lo/xtfjA     ~ai6og    uvtov 

mnistine    eleus    kathos    elalise  pros    tus     pateras    imon  to    Auraam     ke    to 

^VTjG-dfjvaL  k'Aeovg    Ka{^(jc  £Xa?J/i7e  Ttpo(;   rcvi;  Tcarepaq    7jf-Lm>  tiji    ujiijuan      nal    tm 

spermati  autu   eos    eonos."     G^.  Grammar,  p.  21, 

airkpfiart  avmv  ^ur  a'ici)vo(;." 

^  "  Non  potest  esse  Aristotelis  ut  estimatur  a  pluribus,  nee  alicuius  greci,  quia 
non  traditur  greca  grammatica  secundum  formam  grecam,  immo  magis  secundum 
latinam ;  licet  aliqua  greca  aliquando  ibi  tangantur.  Sed  constat  grecam  grammat- 
icam  more  greci  ab  autoribus  tradi.  Non  igitur  fuit  hie  tractatus  factus  in  greco, 
nee  a  greco  translatus,  sed  aliquis  latinus  ipsum  ex  proprio  capite  compilavit  .  .  . 
Instrui  indiget  in  grammatice  rudimentis."     Gk.  Grammar,  p.  57. 


44 


MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM 


writers,    to    be    followed     and    supplemented    by    a    larger 
work. ' 

But  in  spite  of  his  acquaintance  with  the  structure  and  para- 
phernalia of  the  language  Bacon  gives  no  indication  in  his 
works  of  any  ability  to  read  Greek  outside  of  grammars  and 
dictionaries.  He  finds  grave  fault  with  current  translations 
of  Aristotle  or  of  the  Scriptures,  but  he  bases  his  strictures 
on  the  well  known  incompetence  of  the  translators  or  on  the 
corruption  and  contradiction  of  Latin  texts  rather  than  on 
flaws  detected  by  comparison  with  a  Greek  original.  In 
short  his  proficiency,  remarkable  as  it  is,  seems,  for  all  he 
reveals  to  the  contrary,  to  have  extended  scarcely  beyond 
what  he  calls  the  third  degree  of  knowledge,  namely,  the 
power  to  read  and  comprehend  the  references  to  Greek  con- 
tained in  the  works  of  philosophers,  theologians  and  gram- 
marians, and  to  practice  the  rules  of  inflection.  It  stops  dis- 
tinctly short  of  the  first  and  second  degrees,  which  indeed  he 
himself  declares  to  be  out  of  the  reach  of  all  but  a  few  among 
the  Greeks,  the  power  to  use  the  language  freely  and  cor- 
rectly as  one's  mother  tongue  and  the  power  to  translate 
from  it  accurately  and  clearly. '     As  far  as  I  am  aware  there 

^  "  Hie  tractatus  est  introductorius  in  gramtnaticam  grecam  quam  in  maiori 
tractatu  meo  poterunt  perspicere  studiosi.  Nee  est  necessitas  latino  revolvere 
omnes  coniugaciones  ut  intelligat  textum  latinum  in  omni  facultate,  cum  exposi- 
cionibus  sanctorum  et  philosophorum  et  autorum  grammatice  et  poetarum  et 
ceterorum  sapientum,  pro  qua  exposicione  facio  tractatum  istum."  Op.  cit.,  pp. 
171-2. 

'"Nam  consideret  vestrasapientia  quod  in  linguarum  cognitione  sunt  tria;  scili- 
cet ut  homo  seiat  legere  et  intelligere  ea  que  Latini  tractant  in  expositione  theolo- 
gie  et  philosophic  et  lingue  Latine  .  .  .  Sed  aliud  est  in  linguarum  cognitione, 
scilicet  ut  homo  sit  ita  peritus  quod  sciat  transferre  .  .  .  Tertium  vero  est  diffi- 
cilius  utroque,  scilicet  quod  homo  loquatur  linguam  alienam  sieut  suam."  Op. 
Tert.,  pp.  65-6.  "  Sed  tertius  gradus  hie  eligendus  est  qui  facillimus  est  habenti 
doetorem,  scilicet  ut  sciamus  de  his  quantum  sufficit  ad  intelligendum,  que  requirit 
Latinitas  in  hac  parte.  Et  vis  huius  rei  stat  in  hoc :  ut  homo  seiat  legere  grecum  et 
hebreum  et  cetera,  et  ut  secundum  formam  Donati  sciat  accidentia  partium  ora- 
tionis."     Comp.  Stud.,  pp.  433-4. 


MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM 


45 


is  no  proof  that  Bacon  ever  read  any  Greek  beside  text- 
books. His  grammar  and  his  chapters  elsewhere  on  the  use 
of  Greek  miss  the  flavor  and  variety  which  citations  from  a 
wider  literature  would  have  supplied.  As  a  stimulus  to  a 
more  general  study  of  the  language  his  grammar,  as  far  as 
one  can  now  tell,  was  a  failure.  A  few  copies  of  it  were 
made  in  the  course  of  time.  One  dating  from  the  fourteenth 
century  found  its  way  to  Oxford,  another  to  Cambridge,  a 
third  of  the  sixteenth  century  to  the  I'brary  at  Douai,  but 
they  all  lay  forgotten  and  unread. '  Even  the  existence  of 
the  book  was  doubted  by  scholars  until  within  the  last  few 
years.  It  is  valuable,  accordingly,  not  as  a  source  of  infor- 
mation drawn  upon  by  the  Middle  Ages,  but  as  an  indica- 
tion of  the  amount  of  knovvledge  which  it  was  possible  in 
that  period  for  one  man  of  tireless  enthusiasm  to  obtain. 

The  foregoing  pages  suggest  briefly  the  main  channels  by 
which  a  knowledge  of  the  Greek  tongue  was  conveyed  to  the 

'  Gk.  Grammar,  pp.  Ixv,  Ixvi,  Ixx,  Ixxi.  A  fifteenth  century  catalogue  of  the 
library  of  St.  Augustine's  Abbey,  Canterbury,  contains  a  notice  of  "pars  quedam 
grammatice  grece  Baconis,"'  included  in  a  volume  of  mathematical  tables  given  to 
the  Abbey  by  one  John  of  London.  This  John  may  perhaps  be  identified  with 
Bacon's  promising  pupil  ol  the  same  name.  James,  pp.  325,  Ixxiv  Ixxvii.  In  1344 
the  English  prelate,  Richard  de  Bury,  wrote  a  pleasant  little  treatise  on  books.  In 
one  chapter  he  dilates  upon  the  desirability  of  a  study  of  Greek.  His  language 
reminds  the  reader  of  Bacon's,  although  the  reasons  he  urges  in  support  of  his 
ojnnion  are  more  literary  in  character  and  less  philological.  "What  w(  uld  Ver- 
gil, the  greatest  poet  of  the  Latins,  have  done  if  he  had  not  plundered  Theocritus, 
Lucretius  and  Homer,  or  ploughed  with  their  heifer?  .  .  .  The  creeds  we  chant 
are  the  sweat  of  the  Greeks,  declared  in  their  councils  and  confirmed  by  the  martyr- 
dom of  many  .  .  .  We  draw  this  conclusion  from  what  has  been  said,  namely,  that 
the  ignorance  of  the  Greek  language  is  at  this  day  highly  injurious  to  the  study 
of  the  Latins,  without  which  the  doctrines  of  either  the  ancient  Christians  or  Gen- 
tiles cannot  be  comprehended."  After  a  reference  to  the  inefficacy  of  the  decree 
of  the  Council  of  Vienne  he  concludes  with  the  statement  that  he  has  at  least  pro- 
vided Greek  and  Hebrew  grammars  for  the  use  of  his  scholars.  Philobiblion,  cap. 
X,  pp.  70-2.  It  is  not  impossible  that  the  author  had  been  procuring  copies  of 
Bacon's  works.  But  he  does  not  himself  seem  to  have  learned  Greek  from  them, 
and  no  record  as  yet  has  shown  that  any  of  his  pupils  did. 


46 


MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM 


West  in  the  Middle  Ages  and  the  extent  and  character  of 
this  knowledge.  The  modern  student  of  the  situation  is 
struck  most  perhaps  by  the  almost  absolute  dearth  among 
the  greatest  scholars  of  ability  or  inclination  to  read  Greek. 
Library  catalogues  joined  to  the  mention  of  an  ancient 
manuscript  the  phrase,  "  Greca  sunt,  non  describuntur." 
University  doctors  lecturing  upon  texts  in  law  or  philosophy 
passed  over  quotations  with  the  comment,  "  Grecum  est,  non 
legitur."  A  limited  acquaintance  with  Greek  roots  derived 
principally  through  grammars  and  etymologies  was  not  rare 
in  literary  circles.  Greek  titles  gave  an  air  to  compositions 
in  Latin;  witness  the  Rhetorimachia  of  Anselm  of  Bisate, 
the  Metalogicus  and  Polycraticon  of  John  of  Salisbury,  the 
Philobiblion  of  Richard  de  Bury,  the  Megacosmus  and 
Microcosmus  of  Bernard  Silvester  of  Tours  and  numerous 
others.  Students  of  etymology  were  captivated  by  the 
opportunity  of  exercising  their  fancy  in  juggling  with  deri- 
vations. Gervais  of  Tilbury  found  in  the  word  Academy 
"  the  sorrow  of  the  people."  ^  Matthew  Paris  ascribed  to 
the  Athenians  a  claim  to   immortality  in   their  very  name.  ^ 

'  "  Et  non  solum  nocivum  est,  valde  verecundum  est,  quando  inter  omnes 
sapieiites  Latinorum  prelati  et  principes  non  inveniunt  unum  hominem  qui  unam 
literain  Arabicam  vel  Grecam  sciat  interpretari  nee  uni  nuntio  respondere,  sicut 
aliquando  accidit."  Bacon,  Op.  Mai.,  yoX.m,^).  120.  Philip  of  Harveng,  abbot 
of  Bonne-Esperance  in  the  twelfth  century,  a  great  lover  of  literature,  writes  to  a 
friend :  "  Cum  enim  pluribus  et  dissimilibus  Unguis  Deus  uti  velit  diversas  homi- 
num  nationes  .  .  .  earn  linguam,  nisi  fallor  quodam  reverentie  et  amoris  privilegio 
vult  preferri,  quaiu  versari  inter  sacra  ecclesiatica  et  ad  posteros  literis  vult 
transferri.  Unde  etsi  Hebrea  et  Greca  eo  date  sunt  ordine  patribus  ab  antique, 
tamen  quia  non  usu  sed  famasola  ad  nos  quasi  veniunt  delonginquo,  eisdem  vale- 
facto  ad  Latinam  presentem  noster  utcumque  se  applicat  intellectus."  EpistolcE, 
xvii.     Migne,  vol.  203,  p.  154. 

'  He  derived  it  probably  from  aXoq  6rju,ov.     See  Egger,  vol.  i,  p.  85. 

^  He  makes  the  word  Anthenian  from  a  privative  and  Ouvarng.  Chron.  Mai, 
vol.  V,  p.  286.  He  may  have  derived  the  suggestion  from  Fulgentius,  who  says, 
"  Minerva  denique  et  a"/;iv/  grece  dicitur,  quasi  a^mvcnoq  napdeioc,  id  est  immor- 


MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM  47 

Nevertheless  it  seems  safe  to  say  that  hardly  a  scholar  who 
had  not  lived  in  the  South  or  East  ever  acquired  the  skill  to 
read  Greek  at  all,  as  we  understand  the  term,  or  to  translate. 
Greek  manuscripts  were  not  copied  in  the  cloisters.  The 
few  that  were  unearthed  when  the  humanists  of  the  fifteenth 
century  set  about  the  search  were  chiefly  of  ancient  or  Ori- 
ental origin  with  the  exception  of  the  crude  bilingual  glos- 
saries. '  The  patois  in  which  the  Venetian  trader  chaffered 
over  his  wares  when  he  touched  at  an  Eastern  port  or  the 
crusader  asked  for  a  night's  lodging  on  the  road  was  as  far 
to  all  intents  and  purposes  from  the  Greek  of  the  classics  as 
is  the  garbled  Hindustanee  of  the  casual  Indian  civilian  from 
the  language  of  the  Vedas.''  What  little  was  accomplished 
in  the  study  and  interpretation  of  ancient  texts  was  mainly 
the  work  of  a  small  number  of  churchmen  who  studied  for 
special  motives  abroad  or  hired  the  services  of  an  Oriental 
to  translate  certain  didactic  or  religious  books  particularly 

talis  virgo,  quia  sapientianec  mori  poterit  nee  corrumpi."  Alytholo^icon,  in  Mytho- 
graphi,  vol.  ii,  p.  68.  Bacon,  who  touches  on  so  many  phases  of  this  subject,  has 
some  curious  examples  of  confused  derivations  in  the  dictionaries  of  Hugutio, 
Brito  and  Papias,  e.  g.  "  Hugutio  et  Brito  errant  horribiliter  in  hoc  nomine  idiota. 
Dicunt  enim  quod  dicitur  ab  idus,  quod  est  divisio,  et  iota,  quod  est  litera  alpha- 
beti,  quasi  divisus  a  Uteris  et  illiteratus;  vel  ab  idus  et  ota,  quod  est  auris,  quasi 
divisus  ab  aure,  quia  quod  audit  non  intelligit;  vel  ab  othis,  quod  est  mos,  et  idos, 
quod  est  proprium,  quasi  ignorans  morem  proprie  terre  et  gentis.  Sed  absurda 
sunt  hec  et  falsa.  Nam  idion  est  proprium,  a  quo  idioma,  id  est  proprietas  lo- 
quendi,  et  idiotes,  qui  natural!  sensu  et  propria  lingua  contentus  est,  et  sic  et- 
idiota  sicut  scribit  Beda,  Act.  quarto,  etc."     Cotnp.  Stud.,  pp.  460-1. 

^  Egger,  vol.  i,  p.  44.  Cf.  sttpra,  p.  18.  Greek  manuscripts  in  the  monasteries 
were  frequently  psalters.  See  examples  in  Becker,  Catalog,  pp.  172  and  267, 
Omont,  Fac-Shniles,  passim.  A  Greek  copy  of  the  Epistles  of  Paul  was  at  Corbie 
in  the  thirteenth  century,  (Becker,  p.  283.)  and  one  of  the  Octoteuch  at  Christ 
Church,  Canterbury.     (James,  p.  1,  xxxvi.) 

2 "  Multi  vero  inveniuntur  qui  sciunt  loqui  Grecum  et  Arabicum  et  Hebreum  inter 
Latinos,  sed  paucissimi  sunt  qui  sciunt  rationem  grammatice  ipsius,  nee  sciunt 
docere  earn :  tentavi  enim  permultos.  Sicut  enim  laici  loquuntur  linguas  quas  ad- 
discunt  et  nesciunt  rationem  grammatice,  sic  est  de  Ltis."  Bacon,  Op.  Tert.,  p. 
33- 


48  MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM 

desired  by  scholars  of  the  West.  These  translators,  as  a 
rule,  comprehended  too  dimly  the  tongue  with  which  they 
were  dealing  to  make  their  versions  lucid  or  idiomatic.  ^ 
Finally  the  reputation  of  Greek  as  a  singularly  difificult  lan- 
guage tended  to  discourage  any  incipient  interest  in  a  sub- 
ject so  formidable  of  approach.'  No  incentive  ofifered  for 
its  cultivation  was  effective  or  lasting.  A  new  enthusiasm 
and  a  different  attitude  of  mind  were  needed  before  Greek 
should  once  more  be  read  and  loved  by  men  of  letters 
throughout  the  West. 

'The  following  extract  illustrates  the  style  of  one  of  the  most  prominent  trans- 
lators, William  of  Moerbeka.  "  Omnia  utique  ex  Providentia  erunt  et  malum 
habet  locum  in  entibus.  Quare  et  faciunt  dii  malum  sed  tanquam  bonum,  et 
cognoscunt,  ut  omnium  unialem  habentes  cognitionem,  impartibiliter  quidem 
partibilium,  boniformiter  autem  malorum,  unialiter  autem  multitudmis.  Alia  enim 
anime  cognitio  et  alia  intellectualis  nature,  alia  deorum  ipsorum :  hie  quidem 
omni  avTOKivTjToq,  id  est  ex  se  mobilis;  hie  autem  eternalis  cognitio,  hie  autem 
indicibilis  et  unialis,  ipso  uno  omnia  et  cognoscens  et  producens."  From  Proclus, 
De  Malorum  Subnstentia.     Quoted  in  Hist.  Litl.  de  la  France,  vol.  xxi,  p.  150. 

'Priscian  alludes  to  the  inflections  of  the  Greek  verb  in  a  way  to  daunt  the 
hardiest.  Imt.  Gram.,  vol.  i,  pp.  420,  442,  445-7.  etc.  Bacon  in  his  gram-' 
mar  remarks,- "Coniugaciones  vero  non  omnes  ponam  in  hoc  tractatu,  sicut 
a  principio  dictum  est,  propter  gravitatem  multitudinis  earum  et  superfluam 
difificultatem  intelligendi  eas,  quia  novicius  addiscens  grecas  coniugaciones  vix 
unam  recipiet  patienter,  et  quia  hie  tractatus  est  introductorius  in  grammaticam 
grecam."  Gk.  Grammar,  p.  171.  A  thirteenth  century  characterization  of 
Arabic,  Greek  and  Latin  runs  as  follows,  "  tedium  verbositatis  arabice,  implica- 
tionis  grece,  paucitas  quoque  exarationis  latine."  Hist.  Litt.  de  la  Frxncc,  vol. 
xxi,  p.  144. 


CHAPTER  II 

Of  the  contents  of  Greek  literature,  the  history,  science, 
philosophy  and  art  of  the  Hellenic  race,  the  West  possessed 
all  this  time  certain  imperfect,  disconnected  fragments.  In 
a  broad  sense  of  course,  the  Middle  Ages  could,  not  feel  the 
power  of  Roman  learning  and  civilization  nor  yield  obedience 
to  the  dogmas  of  the  church  without  thereby\  smbmitting 
unconsciously  to  the  Greek  intellect  which  had  been  the 
teacher  of  republican  and  imperial  Rome,  and  had  formu- 
lated the  theology  of  the  early  fathers.  But  Greek  influence? 
of  that  larger  and  subtler  type  were  practically  unrecognized 
and  do  not  concern  us  here.  A  more  conscious,  if  not 
always  more  direct  acquaintance  with  Greek  letters  remained 
as  a  part  of  the  Latin  literary  inheritance  and  of  that  we 
have  now  to  speak.'. 

Certain  unforgettable  myths  and  stories,  certain  stirring 
portions  of  history  and  tradition  were  preserved  from  the 
treasure  houses  of  Greek  imagination  and  remodelled  to  suit 
medieval  purposes  and  standards  of  taste.  In  the  former 
class  stood  Esop's  Fables,  which  had  a  wide  circulation  in  a 
tenth  century  prose  paraphrase  of  the  Augustan  verse  of 
Phaedrus.  The  author  of  this  later  version  assumed  the 
name  of  Romulus  and  prefaced  his  book  with  a  dedication 
to   a   suppostitious    son,    Tyberinus,    doubtless    to   give  the 

'  The  relations  of  later  Byzantine  literature,  martyrulogy  and  romance  to  the 
Western  world  form  a  separate  subject  and  cannot  be  discussed  here.  A  sug- 
gestive short  essay  is  I)5llinger,  Akad.  Vortrage,  vol.  i,  pp.  163-186,  translated 
into  English  in  DoUinger's,  Studies  in  European  history.  On  the  Greek  Phys- 
iologus  see  Gidel,  Nouvelles  Etudes,  pp.  401-443. 

49 


-O  MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM    ■ 

^> 

whole  a  classical  atmosphere.  Accordingly  the  work  was 
sometimes  assigned  to  Romulus  Augustulus,  the  last  Western 
Emperor.  In  the  course  of  the  verseloving  twelfth  century- 
many  of  these  and  similar  tales  were  put  back  into  Latin  or 
vernacular  poetry.'  The  lady  Marie  de  France  retold  them 
in  French  rhyme,  informing  us  the  while  that  King  Henry, 
"  who  loved  them  much,"  had  turned  them  into  English." 
They  were  used  to  lighten  the  tedium  of  sermons  where 
rough  wit  was  not  considered  out  of  place.3  Boccaccio 
relates  that  Robert,  King  of  Jerusalem,  was  in  boyhood 
first  aroused  to  any  show  of  interest  in  literature  by  a 
sagacious  tutor  who  put  into  his  hands  the  Fables  of  Esop.* 
From  the  time  of  St.  Augustine  and  Orosius  every  chron- 
icler who  introduced  his  narrative  with  a  sweeping  survey  of 
the  world's  development  previous  to  his  own  generation 
included  in  the  account  certain  data  which  represented  Greek 
history.     The  deeds  of  gods  and  heroes  of  the  epic  age  and 

'  Walter  Anglicus  and  Alexander  Neckam  were  authors  of  versions  in  Latin 
elegiacs.     Neckam's  Esop  is  in  Du  Meril,  Poesies  Inedites,  pp.  169   et  seq. 
-  "  Ysope  apele  on  icest  liure 
Qu'il  Iranslata  et  sut  escrire; 
De  greu  en  latin  le  torna 
Li  rois  Henris  qui  mult  ama 
Le  translata  puis  en  englois, 
Et  ion  I'ai  rime  en  fran<;ois, 
Si  com  gel  trouai  proprement," 

Hervieux,  Fabulistes  Latines,  vol.  i,  p.  616. 
'  Vincent  of  Beauvais,  the  encyclopedist  of  the  thirteenth  century,  gives  a 
resume  of  twenty-nine  of  these  fables  and  adds  the  comment :  "  Hec  de  fabulis 
esopi  exerpere  volui,  quas  et  si  forte  plurium  liceat  ( ?)  in  sermonibus  publicis 
recitare,  quod  et  nonnulli  prudentium  faciunt  propter  audientium  tedia  relevanda, 
qui  talibus  delectantur;  simul  et  propter  integumenta  subiunctaque  aliquid  edifi- 
cationis  habere  videntur.  Nunquam  tamen  nisi  caute  et  parce  id  estimo  facien- 
dum, ne  qui  verbis  sacris  ad  luctum  penitentie  deique  devotionem  provocari 
debent,  ipsi  per  huiusmodi  nugas  in  risum  magis  atque  lasciviam  dissolvantur." 
^pec.  Hist.,  lib.  iv,  cap.  8. 
*  De  Gen.  Dear.,  lib.  xiv,  cap.  9.     Hecker,  Boccaccio-funde,  p.  21S. 


MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM 


51 


the  exploits  of  Alexander  of  Macedon  were  principally  em- 
phasized. The  time  between  was  treated  chiefly  as  the  age 
of  the  philosophers,  The  politics  of  Hellenic  city  states 
would  naturally  prove  bafifling  to  the  monkish  recluse  or  the 
feudal  knight  and  were  therefore  for  the  most  part  passed 
over  with  scarcely  a  word.  Even  the  Persian  wars  and  the 
age  of  Pericles  were  slighted  or  altogether  ignored.'  The 
works  of  the  Attic   historians  were  unknown.^     Information 

'  Orosius,  who  wrote  about  415  A.  D.  and  was  used  as  an  authority  on  ancient 
history  during  the  whole  medieval  period,  knew  something  of  the  older  historians, 
Pausanias  and  Strabo,  and  gives  a  fairly  elaborate  account  of  Greek  history.  But 
even  he  confuses  the  chronology  and  events  of  the  fifth  century.  Histotiarum, 
lib.  ii,  pp.  44,  ei  seq.,  52,  et  seq.  Isidore  of  Seville  in  his  Chronicon  speaks  of  the 
Minotaur,  the  Gorgon,  the  siege  of  Troy.  He  then  enumerates  the  names  of  the 
lawgivers,  Lycurgus  and  Solon,  the  philosophers  and  poets,  Pythagoras,  Pindar, 
Eschylus,  Herodotus,  Socrates  and  Plato  and  proceeds  to  the  reign  of  Alexander. 
Migne,  vol,  83,  pp.  1027-1035.  Ekkehard  of  Aura,  the  author  of  the  great 
chronicle  of  the  eleventh  century,  makes  hardly  a  mention  of  events  between  Troy 
and  Philip  and  Alexander.  Migne,  vol.  154,  pp.  507-605.  Otto  of  Freising,  who 
wrote  in  the  twelfth  century  and  took  especial  pains  with  the  earlier  part  of  his 
narrative,  confounds  the  incidents  of  the  Persian  and  Peloponnesian  wars.  The 
latter  he  describes  as  another  attempt  of  the  Persians  to  ruin  Athens.  Chronicon, 
p.  79.  In  the  next  century  the  voluminous  history  of  Vincent  of  Beauvais  re- 
hearses at  length  the  fables  of  Cecrops,  lo,  the  judgment  of  Paris,  relates  a  moral 
anecdote  regarding  Pisistratus  and  various  episodes  of  the  fifth  century  wars  and 
the  career  of  Themistocles.  There  is  no  attempt  at  explanation  of  motive  or 
causal  sequence,  simply  a  series  of  marvellous  or  edifying  tales.  Spec.  Hist.,  lib. 
iii  and  iv. 

'^  Even  their  names  were  largely  forgotten.  Vincent  of  Beauvais  who  gives  us 
the  most  diffuse  of  medieval  accounts  of  Greece  and  who  alludes  to  ancient  writ- 
ers when  he  can,  says  not  a  word  of  Herodotus  or  Thucydides.  He  speaks  of 
Xenophon  as  the  pupil  of  Socrates,  and  adds,  "  Xenophon  (ut  dictum  est)  vitam 
Persarum  VIII  voluminibus  describens,  polenta  et  cardamo  et  sale  ac  pane  Persas 
asserit  victitare."  .Spec.  Hist.,  lib.  iv,  cap.  67.  In  his  notice  of  Artaxerxes, 
"  Hums  anno  regni  VIII  annotatar  in  cronicis  Eusebii  Cyri  regis  ascensus  quern 
scribit  Xenophon,  sed  nee  librum  umquam  ilium  vidisse  me  memini,  nee  quis 
ascensus  iste  fuerit  uspiam  legi.  Hieronymus  dicit  quod  Xenophon  vitam  Cyri 
in  VIII  voluminibus  descripsit."  Ibid,  cap.  64.  As  to  Plutarch  Vincent  knew 
that  he  wrote  a  letter  to  Trajan  on  the  duties  of  a  prince  and  a  treatise  on  modera- 
tion among  magistrates,  "  qui  inscribitur  archigrammatio."     Ibid,  lib.  xi,  cap.  48. 


e2  MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM 

was  culled  where  it  could  be  from  Latin  authors,  chiefly 
those  of  the  later  Empire.'  But  simple  as  well  as  learned 
might  know  of  Hercules  and  Jason  and  Atlas  who  bore  the 
skies  upon  his  shoulders.  Those  who  could  not  read  might 
hear  the  minstrel  sing  of  them  along  with  Tristan  or  Roland 
of  Huon  of  Bordeaux.^  As  scientific  a  student  as  Roger  Bacon 
accepted  the  myths  and  attempted  to  rationalize  them  by 
stripping  away  the  supernatural  elements. 3  They  were  a 
part  of  the  common  intellectual  property  of  the  age  as  they 
had   been   of  the  age   before.     Especially   popular  were  the 

'  The  authorities  quoted  by  Vincent  of  Beauvais  for  his  Greek  narrative  are 
Eusebius,  Augustine,  Orosius,  Dares,  Helinand  (a  lost  work),  Pliny,  Cicero, 
Aulus  Gellius,  Symmachus,  Boethius,  Horace,  Seneca,  Justinus,  Solinus,  Jerome, 
Tertulb'an,  Lactantius,  Macrobius,  Pseudo-Callisthenes,  Marcian,  Hermes  Tris- 
megistus. 

*  A  list  of  Greek  themes  celebrated  in  medieval  song  is  given  in  a  French 
poetic  romance  of  the  thirteenth  century,  entitled  Flamenca.  An  assembly  of 
minstrels  at  a  royal  feast  are  singing  in  turn. 

"  Quar  I'us  conitet  de  Priamus,  L'us  dis  de  Catmus  quan  fugi 

E  I'autre  diz  de  Piramus;  Et  de  Tebas  con  las  basti, 

L'us  contet  de  la  bell'  Elena  L'autre  contava  de  Jason 

Com  Paris  I'enquer,  pois  I'aumena;  E  del  dragon  que  non  bac  son. 

L'autres  comtava  d'Ulixes,  L'us  comte  d'Alcide  sa  forsa, 

L'autre  d'Ector  et  d'Achilles,  L'autre  con  tomet  en  sa  forsa 

L'autre  comtava  d'Eneas  Phillis  per  amor  Demophon; 

E  de  Dido  consi  remas  L'un  dis  com  neguet  en  la  fon 

Per  lui  dolenta  e  mesquina;   .   .  .  Lo  belz  Narcis  quan  s'i  miret; 

L'us  contet  d'Apollonices,  L'us  dis  de  Pluto  con  emblet 

De  Tideu  e  d'Etidiooles;  Sa  bella  mollier  ad  Orpheu;    .  .  . 

L'autre  comtava  d'Apolloine  L'autre  comtet  con  Dedalus 

Comsi  retenc  Tyr  de  Sidoine;  Sanp  ben  volar  et  d'Icarus 

L'us  comtet  del  rei  Alexandri,  Co  neguet  per  sa  leujaria." 

L'autre  d'Ero  et  de  Leandri;  Flamenca,  lines  613-697,  pp.  2C-2 

For  a  suggestive  discussion  of  Greek  influences  in  medieval,  imaginative  litera- 
ture, see  Floire  et  Blancejior,  p.  cvii,  et  seq. 

'  Op.  Mai,,  vol.  iii,  pt.  II,  pp.  53  et  seq.  In  Bacon's  judgment  the  real  Atlas 
was  an  enthusiastic  astronomer,  Prometheus  a  scientist  and  inventor,  etc.  In 
order  to  reconcile  the  stories  of  Apollo  with  probability,  the  god  is  divided  into 
several  different  persons  of  the  same  name  who  lived  at  different  eras.  One 
Apollo  was  a  dextrous  musician,  another  a  surgeon,  etc. 


MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM 


S3 


cycles  of  tales  which  centered  about  the  Trojan  War.  Poet- 
mongers  and  romancers  took  the  ancient  narratives,  colored 
them  through  with  medieval  sentiment,  read  into  them 
medieval  ideas,  and  embellished  them  with  fanciful  additions.' 
The  love  story  of  Troilus  and  Cressida  was  perhaps  the  most 
successful  product  of  medieval  invention  working  on  bare 
hints  furnished  by  the  Homeric  episodes  of  Chryseis  and 
Briseis.  Ambitious  nations,  following  the  example  of  Rome 
herself,  traced  their  descent  from  heroes  who  had  figured  in 
the  great  contest  on  the  Scamandrian  plain. ^  In  the  twelfth 
century  Benedict  of  St.  Maur  told  the  tale  of  Troy  in  thirty 
thousand  lines  of  French  verse  which  a  hundred  years  after- 
ward Guido  Colonna  translated  into  Latin.  In  the  fourteenth 
century  Boccaccio  repeated  portions  of  it  in  Italian,  Barbour 
and  Henryson  in  Scotch,  and  Chaucer  opened  his  poem  of 
'•  Troilus  and  Criseyde  "  with  the  words, 

"It  is  well  wist  how  the  Grekes  stronge 

In  armes  with  a  thousand  shippes  wente 

To  Troye-wardes,  and  the  citee  longe 

Assegeden  neigh  ten  yeer  er  they  stente, 

And  in  diverse  wyse  and  con  entente, 

The  ravishing  to  wreken  of  Eleyne 

By  Paris  doon  they  wroughten  al  hir  peyne." ' 

Not,  of  course,  that  the  Middle  Ages  read  Homer  or  any 
Greek  poet,  even  in  direct  translations.  The  best  of  their 
knowledge  of  the  epic  legends  came  from  late  Latin  abridg- 

^  See  Saintsbury,  Flourishing  of  Romance,  pp.  1 74-186,  Joly,  Benoit  de 
Sainte-More,  vol.  i,  passim. 

'  For  genealogy  of  the  Franks  see  Fredegarius,  Migne,  vol  71,  p.  577.  Ekke- 
hard  of  Aura,  Migne,  vol.  154,  pp.  713-5.  Vincent  of  Beauvais,  Spec.  Hist.,  lib. 
iii.  cap.  66.  For  the  British  pedigree  see  Henry  of  Huntingdon,  Hist.  Anglorum, 
p.  13,  Matthew  Paris,  Chron.  Mai.,  vol.  i,  pp.  16-22, 

*  Troilus  and  Criseyde,  Bk.  I,  stanza  9.  For  another  reference  to  the  Trojan 
tale  in  one  of  the  best  known  medieval  poems  see  Floirt  et  Blancefior  pp.  19-20, 


e^  MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM 

mcnts  of  translations,  the  worst  from  actual  forgeries  or 
fabrications  with  no  foundation  in  any  Greek  original.' 
Considerable  scattered  information  was  derived  also  from 
Vergil,  Ovid,  Statins  and  other  Latin  poets.  The  nearest 
approach  to  a  true  reproduction  of  the  Iliad  was  a  composi- 
tion of  ten  hundred  and  seventy  lines  in  Latin  hexameter, 
sometimes  mysteriously  known  as  "  Pindarus  Thebanus,"  at 
other  times  as  "  Ilias  Latina,"  or,  most  commonly  of  all,  as 
simply  "  Homerus."^  The  initial  letters  of  the  first  eight  and 
last  eight  lines  form  the  acrostic,"  Italicus  scripsit."  The 
author  is,  therefore,  now  identified  with  a  Silius  Italicus  of 
the  age  of  Nero,  who  composed  an  epic  on  the  Punic  war. 
The  first  three  hundred  and  forty-three  lines  are  an  abridg- 
ment of  the  three  opening  books  of  the  Iliad.  The  remain- 
ing seven  hundred  and  twenty-seven  summarize  the  last 
twenty-one  books,  closing  with  eight  lines  of  invocation  to 
Phoebus,  Pallas  and  Calliope.  The  narrative  is  consequently 
so  compressed  as  to  be  in  the  main  little  more  than  an  arid 
catalogue  of  events.  Motives,  connections,  details  of  situation 
and  character,  the  greater  part  of  what  gives  life  and  meaning 

*  Vincent  of  Beauvais  relates  in  all  faith  the  story  from  Valerius  Maximus  to  the 
effect  that  Homer  died  of  mortification  over  his  inability  to  solve  a  riddle  pro- 
pounded by  some  derisive  Athenian  fishermen.  He  adds :  "  Fuerunt  autem  qui 
Homerum  synonimum  Platoni  fuisse  putaverunt  propter  eloquentiam  et  pectoris 
latitudinem"  {Spec.  Hist.,  lib.  iii,  cap.  87),  a  sort  of  medieval  equivalent  for  the 
Bacon-Sbakespeare  theory. 

*"Sequitur  in  ordine  Statium  Homerus,  Sed  apud  Grecos  remanens 

Qui  nunc  usitatus  est,  sed  non  ille  verus;  nondum  est  translatus. 

Nam  ille  Grecus  extitit  Greceque  scribebat,  Hinc  minori  locus  est   hie 

Sequentemque  Vergilium  Eneidos  habebat,  Homero  datus, 

Qui  principalis  extitit  poeta  Latinorum;  Quem    Pindarus     philoso- 

Sic  et  Homerus  claruit  in  studiis  Grecorum.  phus  fertur  transtulisse 

Hie  itaque  Vergilium  precedere  deberet,  Latinisque     doctoribus    in 

Si  Latine  quispiam  hunc  editum  haberet.  .  metrum  convertisse." 

Hugo  von  Trimberg  of  the  thirteenth  century.  Quoted  by  Comparetti,  Vergil 
in  the  Middle  Ages,  p.  167,  n.  2.  Joly,  vol.  i,  pp.  151-5.  Becker,  Catalog, 
index. 


MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM 


55 


to  the  ancient  story,  are  perforce  omitted.  Only  here  and 
there  at  a  sentimental  passage  the  writer  pauses  and  expands 
his  treatment  even  beyond  Homer's,  dwelling  upon  the  point 
with  manifest  zest  and  a  profusion  of  cheap  conventionali- 
ties.' The  proportions  of  the  original  are,  consequently, 
altogether  lost.  Occasionally  appears  an  actual  departure 
from  the  Greek  narrative,  as  when,  in  agreement  with  the 
later  versions,  Achilles  is  made  to  drag  the  dead  Hector 
three  times  around  the  Trojan  walls  and  Priam's  stealthy 
errand  to  ransom  his  son's  body  becomes  a  public  mission 
performed  before  the  eyes  of  all  the  Greek  chieftains.*  The 
medieval  reader,  however,  could  but  take  the  poem  as  a  true 
and  adequate  rendering  of  Homer  himself.  Petrarch  was 
the  first  to  declare  that  there  must  be  more  in  the  great 
classic  than  what  this  furnished. 

As  companion  pieces  to  the  Ilias  Latina  were  two  other 
works  upon  the  Trojan  theme,  which  professed  to  be  records 
of  eye  witnesses  present  at  the  siege  and  in  that  respect 
superior  to  the  conceits  of  a  blind  bard  who  by  all  accounts 
lived  at  least  a  century  later  and  derived  his   information 

'  Take,  for  example,  the  account  of  the  grief  of  Chryses  over  the  loss  of  his 
daughter  : 

"Nam  quondam  Chryses,  solemni  tempora  vitta 
Inplicitus,  rapte  flevit  solatia  nate, 
Invisosque  dies  invisaque  tempora  noctis 
Egit  et  assiduis  implevit  questibus  auras  .  .  . 
Contemptus  repetit  Phoebeia  templa  sacerdos 
Squalidaque  infestis  maerens  secat  unguibus  ora 
Dilaceratque  comas  annosaqe  pectora  plangit." 

Poet.  Lai.  A/in.,  vol.  iii,  pp.  8-9,  lines  13-16,  27-29. 
^  "  Hunc  animi  nondum  satiatus  Achilles 

Deligat  ad  currum  pedibusque  exsanguia  membra 
Ter  circum  muros  victor  trahit." 

Op.  ciC,  p.  56,  lines  997-9. 
"  Mirantur  Danaum  proceres,  miratur  et  ipse 
iEacides  animum  miseri  senis." 

Ibid.,  p.  57,  lines  1025  6. 


^5  MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM 

through  hearsay. '  The  medieval  public  was  completely- 
hoodwinked  by  these  professions.  Its  confidence  in  the 
testimony  of  Dictys  the  Cretan  and  Dares  the  Phrygian  was 
perfect,  and  the  delusion  was  one  of  the  last  to  be  dispelled 
after  the  Middle  Ages  were  over.  The  story  of  Dictj^s  was 
manufactured  probably  during  the  fourth  century  and  may 
have  had  some  basis  in  a  late  Greek  original.  ^  According 
to  the  preface,  Dictys  of  Crete,  a  friend  of  Idomeneus  and 
Merion,  accompanied  those  princes  to  Troy  and  at  their  bid- 
ding kept  a  register  of  the  events  of  the  war,  inscribing  it  on 
tablets  in  the  Phoenician  letters  to  which  he  was  accustomed. 
At  his  death  he  ordered  the  tablets  to  be  buried  with  him. 
There  they  remained  sealed  up  in  his  tomb  until  an  earth- 
quake in  the  reign  of  Nero  uncovered  them  and  wandering 
shepherds  carried  them  to  the  Roman  governor.  At  Nero's 
command  they  were  translated  first  into  Greek,  and  after- 
wards into  Latin.  3 

The  history  introduced  with  such  convincing  credentials 
of  authenticity  comprised  six  books  of  fair  length,  written  in 
crabbed  and  pedantic  Latin  prose,  and  recounted  the  whole 
story  of  the  Trojan  doom  from  the  rape  of  Helen  to  the  death 
of  Ulysses  by  the  hand  uf  his  son  Telegonus.  The  incidents 
of  the  Iliad  formed  a  part  of  the  second  and  third  books,  the 
wanderings  of  Ulysses  were  described  with  those  of  other 
heroes  in  the  sixth.  Obviously,  therefore,  the  greater  por- 
tion of  the  material  was  gathered  from  other  sources  than 
Homer,  some  possibly  from  ancient  cyclic  poets  whose  works 

1  "  An  Homero  credendum,  qui  post  multos  annos  natus  est,  quam  bellum  hoc 
gestum  fuisset:  de  qua  re  Athenis  iudicium  fuit  cum  pro  insane  Homerus  habere- 
tur  quod  deos  cum  hom'.nibus  belligerasse  descripsit."  Introductory  epistle  to 
Dares  the  Phrygian,  Dictys  Cret.,  p.  293. 

'  On  the  other  hand  the  Greek  rendering  may  be  the  later.  At  all  events  Dictyi 
was  known  in  Greek  at  Byzantium  through  the  Middle  Ages.  Teuffel-Schwabe, 
Hist,  of  Roman  Ltt.,  vol   ii,  pp.  375-8.     Joly,  vol.  i,  pp.  168-171. 

^Dictys  Cretensit,-^^.  15-18. 


MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM 


57 


have  now  disappeared.  In  spite  of  his  grave  faults  Dictys  is 
an  abler  and  more  interesting  writer  than  "  Pindar  the 
Theban."  He  is  concise  but  as  a  rule  he  provides  more 
than  enumerations  of  episodes  and  names.  Yet  he  is  quite 
as  devoid  of  artistic  sense  and  modifies  the  Homeric  narra- 
tive even  more  freely.  Taking  as  a  test  his  treatment  of  a 
scene  to  which  we  have  already  referred  in  speaking  of  the 
Ilias  Latina,  the  visit  of  Priam  to  Achilles,  one  is  impressed 
by  the  more  glaring  failure  of  Dictys  to  apprehend  the  force 
and  dramatic  quality  of  the  simple  Greek  description. '  To 
his  mind  the  thing  is  not  made  enough  of.  More  harrowing 
touches  and  a  little  love  interest  are  needed.  A  family  pro- 
cession takes  the  place  of  the  solitary  figure  of  the  broken 
old  king.  A  crowd  of  Greek  leaders  look  on  and  ofifer  ad- 
vice. The  conversation  is  prolonged  into  an  elaborate  argu- 
ment over  the  original  causes  of  the  war.'  The  medieval 
student  might  get  from  Dictys  some  idea  of  the  outlines  of 
the  Greek  legend  but  nothing  of  its  spirit. 

'  Joly,  (vol.  i,  pp.  164-6),  criticises  more  fully  Dicty's  version  of  this  same 
scene. 

^  I  quote  part  of  the  narrative :  "  At  lucis  principio,  Priamus  lugubri  veste  mis- 
erabile  tectus,  cui  dolor  non  decus  regium,  non  ullam  tanti  nominis  atque  fame 
speciem  reliquam  fecerat,  manibus  vultuque  supplicibus  ad  Achillem  venit :  quo- 
cum  Andromacha,  non  minor  quam  in  Priamo  miseratio :  ea  quippe  deformata 
multiplici  modo,  Asiyanacta,  quern  nonnulli  Scamandrum  appellabant,  et  Laoda- 
manta,  parvulos  admodum  filios,  pre  se  habens,  regi  adiumentum  deprecandi 
aderat,  qui  moeroribus  senisque  decrepitus  filie  Polyxene  humeris  innitebatur: 
sequebantur  vehicula  plena  auri  atque  argenti  precioseque  vestis,  cum  super 
murum  despectantes  Troiani  comitatum  regis  oculis  prosequerentur :  quo  viso  re- 
pente  silentium  ex  admiratione  oritur.  Ac  mox  reges  avidi  noscere  causas  adren- 
tus  eius  procedunt  obvium.  Priamus  ubi  ad  se  tendi  videt  protinus  in  os  ruit,  pul- 
verem  atque  alia  humi  purgamenta  capiti  aspergens:  dein  orat  uti  miserati  fortu- 
nas  suas,  precatores  secum  ad  Achillem  veniant.  Eius  etatem  fortunamque  recor- 
datus  Nestor  dolet:  contra  Ulysses  maledictis  insequi  et  commemorare  que  ad 
Troiam  in  consilio  ante  snmtum  bellum  ipse  adversum  legatos  dixerat.  Ea  post- 
quam  Achilli  nuntiata  sunt,  per  Automedontem  adversum  iri  iubet,  ipse  retinens 
gremio  urnam  cum  Patrocli  ossibus."     Did.  Crei.,  pp.  204-5. 


58  MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM 

The  history  of  Dares  the  Phrygian  was  written,  probably, 
during  a  later  century  to  offset  Dictys.'  The  guarantee  pre- 
fixed to  it  was  nothing  less  than  a  letter  from  Cornelius 
Nepos  to  his  friend  Sallust  describing  the  discovery  of  the 
manuscript  of  Dares  at  Athens  and  his  own  translation  of  it 
into  Latin.^  The  work  itself  contained  the  express  state- 
ment that  the  author  had  been  at  Troy  until  its  downfall,  had 
taken  part  in  some  of  the  battles  and  had  talked  with  the 
Greeks. 3  Other  valuable  proofs  of  genuineness  were  not 
wanting,  such  as  personal  descriptions  of  prominent  charac- 
ters on  both  sides,  exact  statistics  as  to  numbers  killed  in 
battle,  data  as  to  the  precise  duration  of  the  siege  in  years, 
months  and  days/  The  story  of  a  Trojan  partisan,  it  gave 
of  course  the  Trojan  point  of  view,  as  "  Homerus "  and 
Dictys  gave  the  Grecian.  On  this  ground  it  appealed  par- 
ticularly to  the  fancy  of  the  Western  nations  who  claimed 
descent  from  Trojan  refugees.  It  possessed,  moreover,  the 
virtue  of  thoroughness,  so  gratifying  to  the  medieval  mind. 
It  went  back  for  its  beginning  to  the  Argonautic  expedition, 
and   traced  from   that   point  down  the   growth  of  hostility 

^  Teuffel-Schwabe,  toI.  ii,  pp.  493-4;  Saintsbury,  pp.  167-177;  Taylor,  Claui' 
cal  Heritage,  p.  40. 

* "  Cum  multa  Athenis  studiosissime  agerem,  inveni  historiam  Daretis  Phrygii 
ipsius  manu  scriptair,  uttitulus  indicat,  quam  de  Grecis  etTroianis  memorie  man- 
davit,  quam  ego  summo  amore  complexus  continue  transtuH."  Diet.  Cf^/.,  p.  293, 
This  letter  was  accepted  as  implicitly  as  the  history.  See  Vincent  of  Beauvais, 
Spec.  Htst.,  lib.  iii,  cap.  62. 

'"Dares  Phrygius  qui  banc  historiam  scripsit  ait  se  militasse  usque  dum  Troia 
capta  est :  hos  se  vidisse  cum  inducie  essent,  partim  prelio  interfuisse.  A  Dar- 
danis  audisse  qua  facie  et  natura  fuissent  Castor  et  Pollux,"  etc.  Diet.  Cret,,  p. 
308. 

*  "  Helenam  similem  illis,  formosam,  animi  simplicis,  blandam,  cruribuj  optimis, 
notam  inter  duo  supercilia  habentem,  ore  pusillo.  Priamum  regem  Troianorum 
vultu  pulchro,  magnum,  voce  suavi,  aquilino  corpore  .  .  .  Achillem  pectorosum, 
ore  venusto,  membris  valentibus  et  magnis,  bene  crispatum,  clementem,  in  armit 
acerrimum,  vultu  hilari,  dapsilem,  capillo  myrteo."     Diet.  Cret.,  pp.  308-310. 


MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM 


59 


between  Greeks  and  Asiatics.  It  justified  the  rape  of  Helen 
as  a  retaliation  for  the  earlier  theft  of  the  Trojan  princess 
Hesione.  Having  these  characteristics  in  its  favor  it  was 
more  popular  than  Dictys,  though  as  a  literary  performance 
it  was  considerably  more  insignificant  and  degenerate.^  It 
was  less  than  a  quarter  as  long,  notwithstanding  the  greater 
length  of  time  which  it  strove  to  cover.  In  a  breathless  kind 
of  haste  it  pressed  on  through  a  succession  of  short,  abrupt, 
monotonous  sentences.^  It  altered  or  rearranged  the  facts 
of  the  classic  story  so  unscrupulously  that  one  concludes 
that  the  author  was  writing  from  hazy  memories  without 
exerting  himself  to  consult  his  books.  Not  only  were  tawdry 
additions  made  and  a  pseudo-romantic  coloring  given  to  the 
whole,  but  the  order  and  motives  of  fundamental  incidents 
were  changed.  The  momentous  wrath  of  Achilles  occurred 
a  year  after  Hector's  death,  and  was  occasioned  by  his  failure 
to  obtain  Polyxena.  Eneas  and  Anchises  were  traitors,  and 
opened  to  the  Greeks  at  last  the  Scaean  gate  which  was 
marked  by  the  painted  head  of  a  horse.  The  process  of 
garbling  and  distortion  could  scarcely  be  carried  further.3 

Another  composition  stood  to  the  Middle  Ages  for  the 
tragedy  literature  of  Eschylus,  Sophocles  and  Euripides.  It 
bore  the  title  "  Orestis  Tragoedia,"  and  was  ordinarily  as- 

^  In  Becker's  list  of  catalogues  of  medieval  libraries  twenty-one  manuscripts  of 
Homerus  are  mentioned,  twenty- two  of  Dares  and  three  of  Dictys.  Each  copy 
of  Dictys  was  bound  with  either  Homerus  or  Dares.  See  Becker,  index,  Cf. 
Comparetti,  pp.  244-5. 

^The  death  and  burial  of  Hector  are  thus  disposed  of.  "  Hector  Achillis  femur 
sauciat.  lUe  dolore  accepto  magis  eum  persequi  coepit  nee  destitit  nisi  occideret 
.  .  .  Nox  prelium  dirimit.  Achilles  de  bello  saucius  redit.  Noctu  Troiani  Hec- 
torem  lamentantur.  Postera  die  Troilus  Troianos  educit  contra  Grecorum  exer- 
citum  .  .  .  Priamus  Hectorem  suo  more  ante  portam  sepelivit,  cui  ludos  funebres 
facit."     Diet.  Cret.,  p.  322. 

'  Still  another  less  known  version  of  the  tale  of  Troy  was  called  Perioikae  or 
Periochae,  and  was  attributed  to  Ausonius.  Petrarch  possessed  a  copy.  Nolhac, 
Petrarque,  pp.  1 71,  321. 


6o  MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM 

cribed  to  either  Horace  or  Lucan.'  It  was,  however,  a 
purely  narrative  poem  in  plain  hexameter  verse  of  less  than 
one  thousand  lines. ^  It  covered  the  whole  subject  of  the 
Orestean  trilogy,  the  return  of  Agamemnon,  his  murder  by 
the  hand  of  Clytemnestra  and  Egisthus,  the  vengeance  of 
Orestes,  his  persecution  by  the  Furies  and  his  final  deliver- 
ance through  the  judgment  of  the  high  court  of  Athens. 
The  style  was  energetic,  even  forcible  in  passages.  There 
was,  on  the  other  hand,  no  appreciation  of  character,  nothing 
in  fact  but  a  rude,  blunt  account  of  the  brutal  incidents  of 
the  old  saga.3     Like  the  Trojan  histories  it  was  worthless  in 

^  It  is  now  supposed  by  some  scholars  to  be  the  work  of  the  African  poet  Dra- 
contius,  who  hved  in  the  latter  part  of  the  fifth  century  and  wrote  other  pieces  on 
Biblical  and  classical  subjects.     Teuffel-Schwabe,  vol.  ii,  p.  506. 

'  Yet  the  author  apparently  had  some  idea  of  the  meaning  of  the  term  "  trag- 
edy," for  he  says  in  lines  13  and  14: 

"  Te  rogo,  Melpomene,  tragicis  descende  cothurnis 
Et  pede  dactylico  resonante  quiescat  iambus." 

Poei.  Lat.  Min.,  vol.  v,  p.  220, 
But  medieval  writers  often  found  difficulty  in  deciding  upon  the  exact  mean- 
ing of  the  terms  tragedy  and  comedy.  A  sentence  in  Donatus  gave  rise  to  many 
conjectures  and  misunderstandings.  "  Sunt  .  .  .  alia  sono  masculina,  intellectu 
feminina,  ut  Eunuchus  comoedia,  Orestes  tragoedia."  Ars  Gram.,  p.  375. 
A  gloss  of  the  tenth  century  thus  interpreted  the  passage :  "  Intellectu  feminina, 
quia  cum  dico  Eunuchus,  intelligo  artem  comedie,  hoc  est  carmen  aptum  comes- 
tioni.  Adeo  autem  usus  est  banc  artem  Eunuchus  ut  proprio  nomine  illius  illo  tem- 
pore intelligeretur  sua  ars.  Similiter  Orestes  cum  dico,  intelligo  artem  traguedie 
pro  sedula  usitatione  illius."  Thurot,  pp.  67-8.  For  knowledge  of  Aristotle's 
Poetics,  see  infra,  p.  74,  n.  i. 

'  As  an  example  of  the  rugged  qualities  of  the  style  at  its  best  I  quote  lines  700- 
717,  describing  the  appearance  of  Orestes  and  Pylades  before  the  guilty  pair: 
"  Securi  stipuere  rei,  terretur  Egistus; 

'  Non  ego  proniisi  Danais  per  secla  quietem  ? 
NuUus  ad  Argolicos  moveat  qui  bella  remansit 
Hectore  consumto,  Troia  pereunte  sub  armis.' 
Dicebat  regina  furens  irata  ministris : 
'  Vindico,  sic  vivam  mecumque  senescat  Egistus.' 
Talia  dum  loquitur  quasi  vindex  seva  minata, 
XJha  puellarum  male  concita  currit  anhelans; 


MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM  6l 

comparison  with  the  originals  which  it  represented.  Yet 
like  them  it  served  to  keep  the  West  from  forgetting  entirely 
the  nomenclature  of  the  world  of  Greek  imagination.' 

As  widely  known  as  the  legends  of  Troy  and  Mycenae, 
and  as  confidently  accepted  as  reliable  history,  was  the  mar- 
velous tale  of  the  exploits  of  Alexander,  commonly  attributed 
to  his  comrade,  Callisthenes.''  In  reality  it  was  probably  a 
compendium,  drawn  up  at  least  as  early  as  the  second  cen- 
tury after  Christ,  of  the  Oriental  myths  then  current  re- 
garding the  meteoric  career  of  the  youthful  Macedonian. 
Stories  of  portents  and  miracles  which  in  their  conception  had 
nothing  to  do  with  Alexander  were  later  inserted  to  increase 
the  wonder  of  the  total  effect.  Magic  and  witchcraft,  the 
water  of  life  and  the  earthly  paradise,  golden  temples  and 
jeweled  palaces,  trees  and  birds  that  spoke,  peoples  of  un- 
couth shapes  and  weird  customs,  criminal  intrigues  and 
ruthless  warfare,  all  this  extraordinary  web  of  invention  was 

'  Venit  Orestes,'  ait,  sed  statim  credita  non  est. 
Dum  dubitant  somnumque  putant  et  vanalocutam, 
Apparet  violentus  atrox  Pylades  in  aula, 
Qualis  in  hoste  fuit  trux  irrevocabilis  Aiax, 
Hectora  dum  peteret  clipeo  septemplice  tectus  : 
Ore  fremens  et  fronte  niinax  mucrone  coruscus 
Intonat  auctores  scelerum ;    'Crudelibus  ausis 
Regnantis  nunc  usque  truces  evadere  iustas 
Sperastis  vos  posse  manus  ?  modo  seva  luetis 
Supplicia  scelerum  non  una  morte  pereunti !" 

I'oet.  Lat.  Min.,  vol.  v,  pp.  2'0-i. 
^  A  piece  of  dramatic  composition  which  i^reserved  some  traditions  of  the  later 
Attic  stage  was  the  anonymous  comedy  of  manners,  Querolus.  It  was  modeled, 
however,  more  directly  upon  Plautus  than  upon  any  Greek  writer,  as  the  author 
himself  implies.  See  Querolus,  ed.  Havet,  p.  187,  line  7.  It  had  but  a  limited 
circulation. 

''■  The  narrative  of  Pseudo-Callisthenes  is  incorporated  almost  bodily  into  the 
Chronicle  of  Ekkehard  of  Aura  {Mi^ne,  vol.  154,  pp.  563  6c2),  and  into  the 
Speculum  Historiale  of  Vincent  of  Beauvais  (lib.  v).  It  is  abridged  in  many  other 
histories. 


62  MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM 

interspersed  liberally  with  philosophic  maxims  of  Eastern 
sages  and  religious  precepts  of  the  Hebrews.  The  appeal 
of  the  whole  to  medieval  credulity  and  love  of  the  fantastic, 
as  well  as  to  medieval  weakness  for  moralizing,  was  irresist- 
ible. No  single  man,  with  the  possible  exception  of  Charle- 
magne, was  so  much  written  about  or  played  so  brilliantly 
the  part  of  a  hero  to  the  Middle  Ages  as  did  this  pagan 
Greek  who  died  of  a  drunken  carouse  a  thousand  years 
before  the  Middle  Ages  began.'  Many  a  great  man  has 
been  misconstrued  by  later  generations,  but  few  certainly 
have  ever  received  so  amazing  a  glorification,  so  vast  a  fame 
for  words  and  deeds  so  absolutely  opposed  in  spirit  to  all 
that  they  actually  did  and  said  in  life. 

A  second  department  of  Greek  thought  of  which  the 
Middle  Ages  knew  partly  through  report,  partly  through 
more  or  less  imperfect  paraphrases  and  translations,  was  its 
philosophy.  Here  again  curious  isolated  fragments  were 
transmitted  and  given  a  disproportionate  weight  of  influence 
while  most  of  that  which   went   before  or   after  was   totally 

'  See  Pseudo-Callisthenes,  included  in  Arriani  Anabasis,  ed.  Didot.  The  num- 
ber and  variety  of  modern  reprints  of  medieval  versions  of  the  Alexander  legend 
suggest  the  extent  of  its  popularity.  Syriac  and  Ethiopic  versions  are  given  in 
the  two  volumes  edited  by  Budge,  Alexander  the  Great,  1889,  and  Life  and  Ex- 
ploits of  Alexander,  1896.  For  a  thirteenth  century  Persian  account  see  Sikandar 
Nama  e  bard,  tr.  Clarke,  London,  1881;  for  an  Italian  rendering,  Collezione  di 
Opere  Inedite  0  Rare  dei  pri'/ni  tre  secoli  della  lingua,  vol.  32;  Spanish,  Bib- 
lioteca  de  Autores  Espanoles,  vol.  57,  pp.  147-224;  Dutch,  BibHotheek  van 
Aliddelnederlandsche  Letterkunde,  No.  2;  French,  Stuttgart,  Literarischer  Verein 
Bibliothek,  vol.  13;  German,  op.  cit.,  vols.  154  and  183.  Several  English  frag- 
ments are  in  Early  English  Text  Society  Publications,  extra  series,  vols,  i,  31  and 
47.  See  also  Sir  Gilbert  Hay's  Buik  op  King  Alexander  the  Conquerotir,  ed. 
Herrmann,  Berlin,  1898.  A  Scotch  version  is  contained  in  Bannatyne  Club 
Publications,  vol.  47.  For  general  discussions  of  the  role  of  the  Alexander  story 
see  among  others,  Meyer,  Alexandre  le  Grand  dans  la  Litterature  Franfaise  du 
Moyen  Age ;  Noldeke,  Beitrdge  zur  Geschichte  des  Alexander  Romans,  Wien, 
Akad.  Pkilos-Hist.  Classe,  vol.  38;  Saintsbury,  Flourishing  of  Romance,  ch.  iv, 
Morley,  English  Writers,  vol.  iii,  pp.  286-303. 


MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM  63 

lost. '  The  names  of  the  seven  sages  were  frequently  quoted 
and  certain  vague  allusions  connected  Thales  with  theories 
regarding  a  fluid  origin  of  the  universe,  and  Pythagoras  with 
a  system  of  mathematics  or  of  music. ""  Socrates'  name 
lingered  as  that  of  the  teacher  of  Plato  and  Aristotle  and  the 
victim  of  a  mysterious  death  by  poison.  3  Plato  himself  was 
reverenced,  but  in  the  main  blindly  in  deference  to  the  re- 
spect expressed  for  his  doctrines  by  Cicero,  Augustine  and 
other  Latins.  His  influence  on  the  growth  of  the  early 
Christian  dogma  of  the  Uyo^,  or  on  the  metaphysical  con- 
cepts of  Dionysius  the  Areopagite,  Augustine  and  Boethius 
was  not  appreciated,  but  he  was  understood  to  have  been 
more  spiritual  or  Christian  in  his  tendencies  than  any  other 

'  A  summary  of  the  greater  part  of  what  was  known  or  believed  about  the 
Greek  philosophers  was  given  in  the  Polycraticus  of  John  of  Salisbury.  Migne, 
vol.  199,  pp.  642-649.  Vincent  of  Beauvais  was  more  garrulous  in  the  retailing 
cf  dubious  anecdotes.  Spec.  Hist,  passim.  In  this  connection  mention  may  be 
made  of  a  thirteenth  century  Latin  translation  of  the  Hypotyposes  of  Sextus  Em- 
piricus,  a  sceptic  philosopher  who  lived  in  the  third  century.  The  manuscript 
was  discovered  and  described  by  Jourdain,  Excursions,  pp.  206  et  seq.  No  traces 
of  its  influence  have  been  observed. 

* "  Si  ergo  sapientiam  cuiusque  Plato  commendet  aut  Socrates,  Aristoteles 
acumen  ingenii,  Cicero  dicendi  copiam,  mathematice  studium  Pythagoras  .  .  . 
quidni  credat?"  John  of  Salis.  Poly.,  lib.  iii,  cap.  5,  Migne,  vol.  199,  p.  484,  Cf. 
Vincent  of  Beauvais,  Spec.  Hist.,  lib.  iii,  cap.  119,  and  lib.  iv,  cap.  23-6. 

*  I  quote  a  few  extracts  from  the  most  careful  students  of  things  Greek.  "  Et 
primus  quidem  Socrates  universam  philosophiam  ad  corrigendos  componendos- 
que  mores  flexisse  memoratur,  cum  ante  ilium  onmes  physicis,  id  est  rebus  natur- 
alibus  perscrutandis  maximam  operam  dederint."  John  of  Salisbury,  Poly.,\Ca.  vii, 
cap.  5,  p.  664.  Otto  of  Ereising  referring  to  Plato  remarks,  "  qui  prefati  Aristo- 
telis  non  solum  apud  Socratem  condiscipulus,  sed  et  post  mortem  Socratis  pre- 
ceptor fuit."  Chfon.  p.  69.  He  imagines  that  Socrates'  death  may  have  been  a 
suicide  due  to  despondency  or  troublous  times.  Ibid.  p.  80.  Vincent  of  Beauvais 
knows  that  Socrates  was  condemned  to  die  but  suggests  that  he  drank  poison 
without  waiting  for  an  executioner,  "  aut  amore  popularis  glorie  aut  timore 
maioris  pene,"  Spec.  Hist.,  lib.  iv,  cap.  66.  Later  in  the  paragraph  he  quotes 
as  from  Lactantius,  "  Socrates  se  nihil  scire  dixir,  nisi  hoc  ipsum  quod  nihil  sciret : 
huic  achademie  disciplina  intonavit,  si  tamen  disciplina  dici  potest  in  qua  ignora- 
tio  et  dicitur  et  docetur." 


64 


MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM 


pagan  Greek  and  for  that  reason  was  sometimes  said  to  have 
studied  under  Jeremiah,  in  Egypt.'  The  fact  of  his  dis- 
agreement with  Aristotle  on  the  nature  of  universals  was  un- 
doubtedly the  item  most  generally  known  concerning  him, 
and  the  knowledge  added  zest  to  the  long  scholastic  contro- 
versy of  the  Middle  Ages.  Indeed  men  who  opposed  Aris- 
totle for  any  cause  whatever  were  apt  to  proclaim  an  alle- 
giance to  Plato  none  the  less  ardent  for  resting  upon  a  basis 
of  partisan  and  unreasoning  faith  rather  than  of  understand- 


^  The  story  of  Plato's  intercourse  with  Jeremiah  can  be  traced  back  to  Au- 
gustine, who  attributes  it  to  Ambrose  {Retractionuvt,  lib.  ii,  cap.  30,  p.  136),  but 
who  in  another  passage  remarks,  "  diligenter  subputata  temporum  ratio  quae 
chronica  historia  continetur  Platonem  indicat  a  tempore  quo  prophetavit  Hiere- 
mias  centum  ferme  annos  postea  natum  fuisse."  [Oe  (  ivit.  Dei.,  lib.  viii,  cap.  1 1, 
pp.  371-2).  The  question  of  Plato's  relation  to  Judaism  was  not,  however,  con- 
sidered settled. — "Quorum  alter  (Plato)  de  potentia,  sapientia,  bonitate  creatoris 
ac  genitura  mundi  creationeve  hominis  tam  luculenter,  tam  sapienter,  tarn  vicine 
veritati  disputat,  ut  ob  hoc  a  quibusdam  ex  nostiis  Hieremiam  in  Egypto  audi- 
visse  et  ab  eo  de  fide  nostra  imbutus  fuisse  credatur  .  .  .  Omnia  enim  que  de 
divina  natura  huinana  ratione  investigari  possunt  invenerunt,  exceptis  his  in 
quibus  sumTna  salus  consistit,  que  per  gratiam  lesu  Christi  a  mansuetis  corde 
cognoscuntur.  Unde  Augustinus :  '  In  principio  erat  verbum,' et  omnia  que  in 
profundissimo  sermone  evangelista  prosequitur  usque  ad  ilium  locum  ubi  de  mys- 
teriis  incarnationis  agere  incipit,  in  Platone  se  invenisse  dicit."  Otto  of  Freising, 
Chron.,  pp.  68-70.  Otto  himself  does  not  believe  in  the  Egyptian  story,  because, 
as  he  also  explains,  Plato  lived  too  long  after  the  prophet.  Vincent  of  Beauvais 
is  of  the  same  opinion  on  that  point,  but  argues  that  Plato  might  well  have  known 
the  Hebrew  Scriptures  through  an  interpeter.  In  support  of  this  idea  he  cites 
several  passages  in  the  Timaeus;  "  et  maxime  illud  quod  et  me  plurimum  adducit 
ut  plene  assentiar  Platonem  illorum  hbrorum  expertem  non  fuisse,  quod  Plato 
ilia  verba  Domini  ad  Moysem,  '  Ego  sum  qui  sum,'  vehementer  tenuit  et  diligen- 
tissime  commendavit."  Spec.  Hist.,  lib.  iv,  cap.  75.  Cf.  Bacon.  Op.  Mai.,  vol. 
in,  p.  72.  Philip  de  Harveng  has  yet  another  theory  regarding  the  Egyptian 
journey.  "Audierat  (Plato)  forte  quod  Moyses,  qui  in  Egypto  natus  fuerat  et 
nutritus,  omni  sapientia  Egyptiorum,  sicut  divina  refert  pagina,  fuerat  eruditus; 
et  super  hac  sapientia  idem  Plato  non  mediocriter  curiosus  ad  investigandum  earn 
faclus  est."  Epistolae,  iv,  Migne,  vol.  203,  p.  32.  Theodoric  of  Chartres  in  the 
twelfth  century  wrote  "  De  Sex  Dierum  Operibus  "  in  an  effort  to  reconcile  the 
Biblical  account  of  the  creation  with  the  theories  of  the  Timaeus.    Sandys,  p.  513. 


MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM 


65 


The  only  work  of  Plato  which  had  anything  approaching 
a  wide  circulation  was  the  Timaeus  in  the  translation  of 
Chalcidius.  The  dialogue  had  furnished  much  material  for 
mystical  exposition  in  the  time  of  the  Neo-PIatonists  and  was 
taken  up  again  by  scholars  after  the  beginning  of  the  twelfth 
century.'  About  1160  Evericus  Aristippus,  a  Sicilian  arch- 
deacon, prepared  Latin  versions  of  the  Phaedo  and  Meno,  a 
few  copies  of  which  slowly  found  their  way  to  the  libraries 
of  great  convents  or  universities  but  in  that  seclusion  lay 
practically  undiscovered.^  Plato  continued  to  be  a  person 
about  whom  inquisitive  minds  were  intensely  but  vainly 
curious.  3  His  works  were  among  the  earliest  to  be  trans- 
lated by  the  Hellenists  of  the  fifteenth  century. 

i"Timeus  plato"  is  mentioned  in  a  catalogue  of  a  library  of  the  tenth  or 
eleventh  century.  Becker,  p.  131.  But  Abelard  did  not  know  it.  "  Pla- 
tonis  opera  non  cognovit  latinitas  nostra."  Cousin,  Ouvra^es  In~dits,  p.  xlvi, 
Willam  of  Conches,  a  pupil  of  Bernard  of  Chartres,  wrote  a  commentary  on  the 
TimTeus  before  1150.  Theodoric  of  Chartres,  mentioned  in  the  note  just  preced- 
ing, was  a  contemporary.  Bernard  Silvester  of  Tours,  in  the  same  century,  wrote 
two  philosophical  treatises  founded  on  the  Tiuiseus.  Otto  of  Freising  was  famil- 
with  it.  Chronicon,  p.  365.  Extracts  from  a  twelfth-century  commentary 
ascribed  to  Honore  of  Autun  are  given  in  Cousin,  op.cit.,  appendix,  pp.  648  656. 
On  the  influence  of  Plato  upon  twelfth-century  thought,  see  Poole,  Illustratici>is 
of  Med.  Thought,  pp.  124  et  seq.,  167  et  seq. 

■  Rashdall,  vol.  ii,  p.  744.  Paris  catalogues  of  1250  and  1290  mention  versions 
of  the  Phgedo.  An  Oxford  Ms.  of  1423  contains  the  translation  of  the  Phsedo 
and  Meno.  Vincent  of  Beauvais,  speaking  of  the  doctrines  of  Pythagoras,  says: 
"  et  multa  alia  que  Plato  in  libris  suis  et  maxime  in  Fedrone  Thimeoque  prosequi- 
tur." Spec,  Hist.,  lib.  iv,  cap.  25.  But  neither  Dante  nor  Petrarch  were  acquainted 
with  more  than  the  Timaeus,  In  1393  Salutato,  Chancellor  of  Florence  and 
learned  student  of  the  classics,  wrote  to  Andrea  Giusti  of  Volterra:  "  Ceterum 
audio  quod  in  bibliotheca  Predicatoruin  est  liber  Platonis  qui  inscribitur  Phedon. 
Rogo  perquiras  et  magnitudinem  libri  declares,  ut  si  possibile  fuerit,  faciam  ex- 
emplari."  Salutato,  Epist.,  vol.  ii,  pp.  444  and  449.  Nothing  is  now  known  of  the 
library  where  the  book  was  said  to  be,  nor  of  the  copy  which  Salutato  tried  to 
procure. 

^  Vincent  of  Beauvais  gives  a  list  of  Plato's  works,  which  he  says  were  called  by 
the  names  of  Plato's  teachers.  "  Hinc  sunt  libri  eius  appellati  Thimeus.  Phedron, 
Gorgias,  Pitagoras,  quorum  primum  et  ultimum  transtulit  Cicero    in    Phedronis 


56  MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM 

The  history  of  the  role  of  Aristotle  in  the  Middle  Ages  is 
far  more  complicated  and  can  be  given  only  in  brief  sum- 
mary here.  The  man  who  made  him  known  to  the  earlier 
centuries  was  Boethius,  the  scholar  of  the  court  of  Theodoric, 
A  great  part  of  his  work  he  based  upon  Aristotle,  translat- 
ting  directly  from  the  Greek  an  introduction  to  the  peri- 
patetic philosophy,  the  Isagoge  of  Porphyry,  also  the  two 
first  divisions  of  the  Organon,  De  Interpretatione  and  Cate- 
goriae,  and  composing  treatieses  of  his  own  upon  the  other 
four  sections  of  the  Organon,  De  Syllogismis  Categoricis, 
De  Syllogismis  Hypotheticis,  De  Differentiis  Topicis  and  De 
Divisionibus.^  The  most  popular  of  all  his  writings,  the 
Consolation  of  Philosophy,  in  spirit  undeniably  Platonic,  was 
Aristotelian  in  form  and  style.  At  the  very  outset  therefore, 
the  Middle  Ages  inherited  more  material  for  a  study  of 
Aristotle  than  for  one  of  Plato.  Moreover  the  subject  of 
which  this  Aristotle  treated  in  his  masterful  fashion  was 
logic,  toward  which  for  various  reasons  the  medieval  thinker 
was  especially  attracted.  Alcuin,  Erigena  and  other  scholars 
of  the  Carolingian  age  studied  the  writings  of  Boethius, 
though    they    admitted    no   extraordinary  authority   in    the 

dyalogo."  Spec.  Hist,  lib.  iv,  cap.  77.  Among  Plato's  direct  disciples  he  includes 
Apuleius,  Plotinus  and  the  mythical  Hermes  Trismegistus.  Op.  cit.,  lib.  v,  cap.  6 
and  8.  Certain  writings  attributed  to  Trismegistus,  curious  compounds  of  fable 
mysticism  and  popular  philosophy,  had  been  translated  from  the  Greek  by 
Apuleius,  and  were  known  to  a  few.  Bandini,  Cat.  Codd.  Lat.,  vol.  ii,  p,  652, 
and  iii,  pp.  333-4- 

^Mandonnet,  Siger  de  Brabant,  pp.  xxiv-xxvi;  Rashdall,  vol.  i,  p.  37,  vol.  ii, 
p.  744;  Jourdain,  Recherches,  pp.  52-58.  These  translations  of  Boethius  com- 
prised what  was  later  known  as  the  Old  Logic,  in  distinction  from  the  versions  of 
the  other  parts  of  the  Organon,  which  were  entitled  the  New  Logic.  They  were 
couched  in  better  Latin  than  the  medieval  renderings.  For  the  opinion  of  one  of 
the  ablest  of  the  early  humanists,  see  Bruni,  Epist.,  vol.  i,  p.  139 :  "  Nullam  enim 
Boetii  interpretationem  habemus  preterquam  Porphyrii  et  Predicamentorum  et 
Perihermenias  librorum,  quos  si  accurate  leges,  videbis  summum  ilium  virum  sine 
ullis  ineptiis  libros  illos  transtulisse.  Textus  est  nitidus  et  planus  et  Greco 
respondens." 


MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM  6/ 

voice  that  spoke  through  them.  Abelard  surrendered  him- 
self with  more  abandon  to  the  guidance  of  the  Greek  sage.' 
He  advocated  what  he  conceived  to  be  the  AristoteHan  the- 
ory of  ideas,  in  opposition  to  both  the  ReaHst  and  the  Nom- 
inalist tenets  then  in  vogue.  He  composed  commentaries 
or  glosses  upon  the  books  of  Aristotle  which  he  had  read, 
and  upon  the  Aristotelian  treatises  of  Boethius.  He  ex- 
erted the  power  of  his  influence  in  the  schools  to  increase 
the  prestige  of  Aristotle's  name  and  to  mark  him  out  as  the 
chief  of  the  philosophers  of  the  past.^ 

Before  the  death  of  Abelard  translations  of  the  other  por- 
tions of  the  Organon  were  being  carried  into  Northern  Europe 
from  the  South.  James,  the  Venetian  clerk  already  men- 
tioned, is  usually  credited  with  their  authorship. 3  Whatever 
their  source  they  were  eagerly  received  in  learned  circles 
and  rapidly  disseminated.  Men  like  John  of  Salisbury,  but 
a  few  years  younger  than  Abelard,  analyzed  and  commented 
upon  them  and  to  some  extent  introduced  them  into  the 
schools. '^  Within  a  few  more  yeais  aid  from  an  unexpected 
quarter  made  the   philosophic  and    scientific  works  of  the 

^  For  the  extent  of  Abelard's  knowledge  of  Aristotle,  see  Rashdall,  vol.  i,  p.  37; 
Cousin,  Onvraqes  Inedits,  pp.  li-liv.  Cousin  quotes  an  explicit  statement  from  a 
Ms.  "  Aristotelis  enin  duos  tantum,  Predicamentorum  scilicet  et  Peri  Ermenias, 
libros  usus  adhuc  Latinorum  cognovit." 

'  John  of  Salisbury  about  this  time  begins  the  protest  against  over-subservience 
to  Aristotle.  "  Nee  tamen  Aristotelem  ubique  plane  aut  sensisse  aut  dixisse 
protestor,  ut  sacrosanctum  sit,  quidc[uid  scripsit."  Aletalogicus,  lib.  iv,  cap.  27. 
Mipie,  vol.  199,  p.  932.  He  himself,  however,  says :  "  sed  cum  singuli  suis  meritis 
splendeant,  omnes  se  Aristotelis  adorare  vestigia  gloriantur,  adeo  quidem  ut 
commune  omnium  philosophorum  nomen  preeminentia  quadam  sibi  proprium 
fecerit.  Nam  et  antonomatice,  id  est  excellenter,  philosophus  appellatur."  Op. 
cit.,  lib.  ii,  cap.  16.     Migne,  p.  873. 

^See  supra,  p.  12.     Jourdain,  Recherches,  pp.  21-42.     Rashdall,  vol.  i,  p.  61. 

*The  Metalogicus  of  John  of  Salisbury,  lib.  iii  and  iv,  {Migne,  vo\.  199,  pp. 
892-930.)  contains  analyses  of  the  contents  of  the  Categories,  De  Interpretatione, 
Topics,  First  and  Second  Analytics,  and  Elenchi  Sophistici.  Otto  of  Freising 
names  all  these  in  his  list  of  the  works  of  Aristotle.     Chronicon.  p.  68. 


68  MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM 

master  also  accessible  to  the  Latin  world.'  For  over  four 
centuries  the  Arabs  who  ruled  in  Bagdad  over  Western  Asia 
and  Northern  Africa  had  possessed  their  own  versions  of 
Aristotle,  Hippocrates  and  certain  other  Greek  scientists, 
versions  in  some  cases  taken  directly  from  the  Greek,  in 
others  from  Syriac  translations  constructed  in  earlier  times 
by  the  Nestorians.^  A  knowledge  of  this  Arabic-Greek  lore 
had  been  transported  by  the  Moslem  conquerors  to  Spain, 
where  small  centres  of  study  were  gradually  formed  among 
the  heterogeneous  population  of  the  peninsular.  Arabic 
doctors  expounded  the  theories  of  the  Greek  philosopher 
and  worked  out  vast  systems  of  Aristotelianism  modified 
more  or  less  by  the  precepts  of  Islam,  Alfarabius,  Avi- 
cenna,  Averroes  and  the  Jewish  teacher,  Moses  Maimonides, 
were  especially  renowned  for  the  profundity  of  their  erudition 
and  the  skill  of  their  interpretations.  Toward  the  close  of 
the  twelfth  century  students  from  the  North,  drawn  by 
rumors  of  wisdom  to  be  gained  from  sources  hitherto  un- 
suspected, began  to  make  their  way  to  Toledo  and  Sala- 
manca to  learn  what  more  they  could  of  Aristotle  in  this 
new  guise.  Shortly  after  the  year  I200  Latin  translations 
from  the  Arabic  of  various  long  forgotten  books  began  to 
appear  in  Paris,  the  Physics,  De  Caelo  et  Mundo,  De  His- 
toria  Animalium,  followed  by  the  Ethics,  Metaphysics  anc 
some  smaller  works.  Michael  the  Scot,  Herman  the  Ger- 
man and  Gerard  of  Cremona,  wandering  clerks  of  diverse 
nationalities,  won  particular  reputation  by  their  versions  of 
Aristotle  and  of  the  paraphrases  and  commentaries  of  Avi- 
cenna  and  Averroes.^     The  actual  process  of  translation  was 

^  A  small  collection  of  axioms  ascribed  to  Bede  had  given  some  hint  as  to  the 
character  of  Aristotle's  Physics  and  Metaphysics.     Rashdall,  vol.  i,  p.  37. 

^  For  a  fuller  account  of  the  Arab  schools  and  the  communication  of  their 
learning  to  Northern  Europe  see  Rashdall,  vol.  i,  pp.  351,  et  seq.  ^fa.2LW,  Averroes 
et  VAverroisme,  pt.  I  and  pt.  II,  chs.  I  and  II. 

'On  these  three  men  see  Jourdain,  Recherches,  pp.  120-147.     Bacon  gives  us 


MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM  69 

commonly  carried  on  by  the  collaboration  of  a  Christian  from 
the  North  with  a  Saracen  or  converted  Jew  of  the  South,  the 
latter  turning  the  Arabic  text  into  Spanish  or  some  other 
vernacular  dialect  intelligible  to  both,  the  former  putting  the 
vernacular  into  Latin.'  Often  neither  one  comprehended 
the  subject  under  discussion  or  the  technical  value  of  the 
terms  employed.  At  times  the  Arabic  manuscript  proved 
corrupt  or  enigmatical  or  a  Latin  equivalent  could  not  be 
recalled.  Occasionally  in  sheer  desperation  an  Arabic  word 
or  two  was  incorporated  directly  into  the  Latin  page.  Thus 
the  sense  of  the  final  product  was  frequently  obscure,  here 
and  there  buried  entirely  under  a  hopeless  tangle  of  words. 
Proper  names  in  particular  were  apt  to  take  on  unrecog- 
nizable forms,  the  Greek  names  having  been  altered  first  to 

the  fullest  contemporary  criticism  of  their  work.  "  Unde  cum  per  Gerardum 
Cremonensem  et  Michaelem  Scotum  et  Aluredum  Anglicum  et  Heremannum 
Alemannum  et  Wilhelmum  Flemingum  data  sit  nobis  copia  translationum  de 
omni  scientia  accidit  tanta  falsitas  in  eorum  operibus  quod  nullus  sufficit  admirari. 
.  .  .  Omnes  enim  fuerunt  temporibus  nostris,  ita  quod  aliqui  iuvenes  adhuc 
fuerunt  contemporanei  Gerardo  Cremonensi,  qui  fuit  antiquior  inter  illos.  Here- 
mannus  quidem  Alemannus  adhuc  vivit  episcopus,  cui  fui  valde  familiaris.  Qui 
mihi  sciscitanti  eum  de  libris  logice  quibusdam,  quos  habuit  transferendos  in 
Arabico,  dixit  ore  rotundo  quod  nescivit  logicam  et  ideo  non  ausus  fuit  transferre. 
Et  certe  si  logicam  nescivit,  non  potuit  alias  scire  scientias,  sicut  decet.  Nee 
Arabicum  bene  scivit,  ut  confessus  est,  quia  magis  fuit  adiutor  translationum 
quam  translator;  quia  Sarascenos  tenuit  secum  in  Hispania  qui  fuerunt  in  suis 
translationibus  principales.  Similiter  Michael  Scotus  ascripsit  sibi  translationes 
multas.  Sed  certum  est  quod  Andreas  quidam  ludeus  plus  laboravit  in  his. 
Unde  Michaelus,  sicut  Heremannus,  retulit,  nee  scivit  scientias  neque  linguas.  Et 
sic  de  aliis."     Comp.  Stud.,  pp.  471-2. 

'  See  note  above.  Cf.  extract  from  the  dedication  of  a  Latin  version  of  Avi- 
cenna,  De  Anima,  addressed  to  the  Archbishop  of  Toledo  by  "  loannes  Avendehut 
Israelita  philosophus."  "  Hunc  igitur  librum  vobis  precipientibus  et  me  singula 
verba  vulgariter  proferente  et  Dominico  Archidiacono  singula  in  Latinum  conver- 
tente,  ex  Arabico  translatum  in  quo  quidquid  Aristoteles  dixit  libro  suo  de  anima 
et  de  sensu  et  sensato  et  de  intellectu  et  intellecto  ab  autore  libri  scias  essecollec- 
tum."  Jourdain,  Recherches,  pp.  449-456.  See  also  incident  of  the  finding  of  a 
Spanish  word  in  a  Latin  translation  by  Herman  the  German,  Bacon,  Comp. 
Stud.,  pp.  467-8.     Op.  Tert.,  p.  91,  Op.  Mai.,  vol.  hi,  p.  82. 


-O  MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM 

suit  Syriac  or  Arabic  rules  of  nomenclature  or  to  meet  the 
limitations  of  the  Arabic  alphabet.'  Identities  were  there- 
fore readily  confounded  or  lost  sight  of  altogether.  As  a 
whole  the  Arab- Latin  translations  were  unsatisfactory  even 
to  the  unexacting  scholar  of  the  day.  They  obtained  only 
until  they  could  be  gradually  supplanted  by  others  taken 
straight  from  the  Greek.'' 

It  was  not  long  before  such  translations  began  to  appear. 
We  have  already  in  another  connection  made  mention  of  the 
version  of  the  Nicomachean  Ethics  composed  under  the 
direction  of  Robert  Grosseteste  of  England.  3  From  South 
Italy  Frederick  II  sent  copies  of  renderings  made  by  Sicilian 
clerks  at  his  munificent  court.  *  Scholars  in  various  places 
stimulated  by  the  increasing  demand  of  the  universities 
and  the  increased  facilities  for  intercourse  with  Greek-speak- 
ing people  set  about  the  work  with  varying  success.  ^  The 
general  superiority  of  these  productions  over  the  Arab- 
Latin  versions  was  soon  acknowledged.  Albertus  Magnus, 
comparing  a  reading  in  a  Greek-Latin  translation  of  the  De 

'  Hipparchus  in  these  versions  was  usually  called  Abraxis.  Albertus  Magnus,  who 
relied  upon  an  Arab-Latin  rendering  of  the  De  Cselo  et  Mundo,  speaks  of  Thales 
of  Miletus  as  "  Belus  natus  de  Ephesio,  que  civitas  Arabice  vocatur  Humor." 
Xenophanes  of  Colophon  is  disguised  as  Malvoconensis.     Jourdain,  Recherches, 

P-37- 

^  Jourdain's  Recherches,  appendix,  contains  a  number  of  illustrative  extracts  from 
manuscripts  of  these  versions.  So  far  as  I  know  none  were  ever  printed  in  full. 
Jlerman  the  German,  in  the  preface  to  his  translation  of  the  Rhetoric,  says  plain- 
tively, "  Nee  miretur  quisquam  vel  indignetur  de  difficultate  vel  rudidate  transla- 
tionis,  nam  multo  difficilius  et  rudius  ex  Greco  in  Arabicum  est  translata.  Ita  quod 
Alfarabius  qui  plurimum  conatus  est  ex  Rhetorica  aliquid  intellectum  glosando 
elicere,  multa  exempla  Greca  propter  ipsorum  obscuritatem  pertransiens  derelin- 
quit  .  .  .  Sane  tamen  eis  (the  faultfinders)  consulo  ut  malint  hos  codices  habere 
sic  translates  quam  habere  derelictos."     Recherches,  p.  139. 

'  See  supra,  p.  14.  *  See  supra,  p.  32. 

'"In  diebus  illis  legebantur  Parisiis  libelli  quidam  ab  Aristotele,  ut  dicebantur, 
compositi,  qui  docebant  metaphysicam,  delati  de  novo  a  Constantinopoli  et  a 
Greco  in  I.atinum  translati."  William  the  Breton,  De  Gestis  Philippi  Aug.,  1209. 
Recutil  des  Hist.,  vol.  xvii,  p.  84. 


MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM 


71 


Anima  with  the  same  passage  in  an  Arab-Latin,  remarks  that 
he  believes  the  former  to  be  erroneous,  but  that  he  has  found 
Greek-Latin  versions  as  a  rule  so  much  more  reliable  that  he 
will  abide  by  this  even  here. '  Thomas  Aquinas  before  his 
death  in  1274  owned  one  or  more  Greek-Latin  versions  of 
almost  all  of  the  works  of  Aristotle,  ^  Those  which  he  sanc- 
tioned were  thenceforth  considered  final  and  authoritative 
until  the  men  of  the  fifteenth  century  set  about  to  improve 
them.  3    In  style  they  were  slavishly  literal,  bald  and  unidiom- 

1 "  Quod  autem  hec  vera  sint  que  dicta  sunt  testatur  Aristotelis  translatio  Ara- 
bica  que  sic  dicit  .  .  .  Greca  autem  translatio  discordat  ab  hac  et,  ut  puto,  est 
mendosa.  Habet  enim  sic.  .  .  .  Sed  quia  in  multis  invenimus  Grecas  emenda- 
tiores  quam  Arabicas  translationes,  ideo  et  hoc  sustinentes  dicimus."  De  Anima, 
lib.  i,  tract,  i,  cap.  4,  OpJ>.,  vol.  v,  p.  124. 

^  See  supra,  pp.  15-17. 

*  A  few  rare  instances  are  found  of  translations  made  during  the  century  and  a 
quarter  after  St.  Thomas,  e.  g.,  a  version  of  the  Economics  by  Durand  of  Auvergne, 
with  the  assistance  of  an  archbishop  and  a  bishop  from  Greece,  finished  in  the 
first  year  of  Boniface  VIII.  Jourdam,  Recherches,  p.  72.  Roger  Bacon  has  caustic 
comments  to  make  on  all  the  translations  of  his  day.  "  Certus  igitur  sum  quod 
melius  esset  Latinis  quod  sapientia  Aristotelis  non  esset  translata,  quam  tali  obscu- 
ritate  et  perversitate  tradita,  sicut  eis  qui  ponuntur  ibi  triginta  vel  quadraginta 
annos;  et  quanto  plus  laborant,  tanto  minus  sciunt,  sicut  ego  probavi  in  omnibus 
qui  libris  Aristotelis  adheserunt."  Comp.  Stud.,  p.  469.  Cf.  Op.  Tert.  p.  33. 
But  on  Bacon's  attitude  see  Mandonnet,  p.  liv,  n.  3.  For  an  instance  of 
mistranslation  see  Op.  Tert.,  p.  75  et  seq.  One  meets  little  other  criticism  on 
Aquinas'  versions  until  one  comes  to  Petrarch.  "  Equidem  fateor  me  stylo  viri 
illius  (Aristotle)  qualis  est  nobis,  non  admodum  delectari,  quamvis  eum  in  sermone 
proprio  et  ducem  et  copiosum  et  ornatum  fuisse  Grecis  testibus  et  Tullio  auctore 
didicerim,  antequam  ignorantie  sententia  condemnarer.  Sed  interpretum  ruditate 
vel  invidia  ad  nos  durus  scaberque  pervenit,  ut  nee  ad  plenum  mulcere  aures  possit 
nee  herere  memorie  quo  fit  ut  interdum  Aristotelis  mentem  non  illius  sed 
suis  verbis  exprimere  et  audienti  gratius  et  promptius  sit  loquenti."  De 
Ignnrantia  Sui,  0pp.,  p.  1051.  One  of  the  fifteenth-century  humanists  thus  ex- 
presses his  opinion :  "  At  enim  in  Ethicis  et  Physicis  quid  tandem  est  prefer  in- 
eptias  meras?  Non  verba  in  his  Latina,  non  dicendi  figura,  non  eruditio  littera- 
rum;  preterea  ab  ipso  Greca  male  accepta  complura.  Hec  aBoetio  longe  absunt, 
viro  in  utraque  lingua  docto  et  eleganti.  Nunquam  ille  architectonicam,  nunquam 
eutrapeliam,  nunquam  bomolchos,  nunquam  agricos,  quorum  vocabula  in  Latino 
habemus,  Grece  reliquisset.  Nunquam  tristitiam  pro  dolore  posuisset,  nunquam 
honestum  cum  bono,  eligere  cum  expetere  confudisset.  .  .  Equidem  si  in  pictura 


72  MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM 

atic,  occasionally  misleading  or  actually  unintelligible. '  But 
if  a  word  from  the  original  must  now  and  then  be  incorporated 
into  the  translation  it  was  better  Greek  than  Arabic.  Proper 
names,  at  least,  regained  their  rightful  aspect.  Numerous 
mistakes  in  rendering  were  corrected.  Unreadable  as  these 
versions  seemed  to  later  generations  they  were  removed  by 
fewer  degrees  from  Aristotle  than  their  Arab-Latin  or  Arab- 
Syriac  predecessors.  ^     They  represented  as  we  have  said, 

Jotti  (Giotto)  quis  facem  proiiceret,  pati  non  possem.  Quid  ergo  existimas  mihi 
accidere  cum  Aristotelis  libros  omni  pictura  preciosiores  tanta  traductionis  fece 
coinquinari  videam?  an  non  commoveri?  an  non  turbari?"  'Qx\xm,  Jipist.,  vol. 
i>  PP-  139-140- 

'  Their  literalness  in  some  cases  made  them  useful  later  as  aids  in  correcting 
defective  Greek  texts.  Cf.  the  following  note  on  a  Florentine  Ms.  of  the  Politics, 
Rhetoric  and  Kthics,  written  by  Franciscus  Victorius,  nephew  of  Petrus  Victorius, 
a  fifteenth  century  collator  of  Greek  and  Latin  Mss.  "  Hie  est  liber  ille  veteris 
translationis  nonnullorum  librorum  Aristotelis,  cuius  sepe  mentionem  fecit  Petrus 
Victorius;  precique  autem  in  epistola  ad  studiosos  artis  dicendi  in  commentaries 
suos  in  tres  libros  Aristotelis  de  arte  dicendi  affirmat  huius  auxilio  se  usum  fuisse 
in  corrigendis  libris  illis  temporum  ac  librariorum  incuria  deformatis.  Cum  enim 
hec  translatio  multis  antea  seculis  confecta  fuerit,  quo  tempore  libri  Aristotelis 
integriores  emendatioresque  erant,  auctorque  ipsius,  quicumque  ille  fuerit,  nego- 
tium  cum  multa  fide  administraverit,  ac  ne  verborum  quidem  ordinem  variaverit, 
inde  se  cognovisse  Victorius  narrat  quam  scripturam  in  suo  exemplari  ille  habu- 
erit."  Traversari,  vol.  i,  p.  clvi. 
^The  following  extracts  show  different  versions  of  a  passage  from  the  opening  of  the  treatise, 
De  Caelo  et  Mundo.     They  are  preceded  by  the  Greek  text: 

Greek.                     Arab-Latin,  No.  i.  Arab-Latin,  No.  2.  Greek-Latin  used  by 

Aquinas. 

'"H    irepl    ^vaeuc        "Maxima      cognitio  "  Summa  cognitionis  "De  natura  scientia 

inLartjfn]  ax^^ov  y  ■K7vei-    nature   et   scientia    de-  nature  et  scientie  ipsam  fere     plurima     videtur 

(jT?/     ^aivETai    TTcpi    TE    monstrans  ipsam  est  in  significantis  in  corpori-  circa  corpora  et   mag- 

c6/jaTa  Kal  fieyc'&r]  koI    corporibus    et    in    aliis  bus    existit,    et    in    re-  nitudines  et  horum  ex- 

rd    Toi'Tuv    ovca    tto.'&t;    magnitudinibus     et    in  liquis     magnitudinibus  i  s  t  e  n  s    passiones    et 

Kal  rac  Kiv^Gstg^  eri  6e    passionibus  et  motibus  et  impressionibus  et  in  motus,     adhuc     autem 

Trepl    rac    ap^dc,,    bcai    earum   et  in  principiis  motibus    eorum    et    in  circa  principia  quecum- 

r^f  TOiavTT/g  ovalac   el-    cuiuslibet  quod   assim-  principiis  omnium  que  que    talis    substantie 

civ      Tuv     yap    (fivaei    ilatur    isti     nature,  etiam  huic  nature  sunt  sunt.      Natura    enim 

avvEOTuTuv  TO.  fiEv  EGTi    Etiam  naturalium  rcrum  similia;    quod  est  quia  constantiuum   hec  qui- 

c^fiara  KaliJEyE-Sr/,Ta6'    quedam  sunt  corpus  et  rerum  naturalium  que-  dem    sunt    corpora    et 

eXei  aojija  Kai.  /ji:-)E^og,    magnitudo,  et  quedam  dam     sunt     que     sunt  m  agni  t  udines;     hec 

TO.  6'apxal  tuv  kxovruv    habent  corpus  et  mag-  corpus,  et  alia  sunt  que  autem  habent  corpus  et 

elalv.                                    nitudinem    et    quedam  sunt     princijiia    rerum  magnitudinem ;       hec 

sunt  principia  habent-  que  habent  corpora  et  autem  principia  haben- 

ium  corpora  et  magni-  magnitudinem.  tium  sunt. 

tudinem. 


MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM 


73 


"ZwexiQ  fi£v  ovv  kari 
TO  ^laiperov  eif  ael  6tai- 
perd,  cujia  6s  to  Ttdury 
duupeTov  /leyi^ovg  de 
TO  fi£v  Eip'ev  ypa/j.uT/,  to 
ffervl  di/o  kTrtTreSov,  ro 
d'cTrl  Tpia  au/za-  kqI 
■napd  TavTa  ovk  Iotiv 
0,7.7.0  fieyedoQ  dm  -b  to 
Tpia  ndvTa  elvac  nal  to 
Tplg  navTi).  KadaRtp 
yap  (paai  oi  nvdaydpeioc, 
TO  Tvav  Koi  Ta  -rravTa 
Tol  g  Tpialv  upKjTai' 
Te?,evT^  yap  Kal  fjtecov 
Kal  apxf)  Tov  apSjiov 
Ix^'-  '''ov  TOV  TravTog, 
Tai'Ta  Se  tov  rfjg  TptdSoq' 
6ib  Tvapd  T7]Q  (pbaeug 
el7://<p6Teg  uanep  vd/xovg 
EKeivriq^  koI  ivpog  Tag 
dyioTtiag  XP^I^^^'^  '''^'^ 
6euv  7(5  dpidfju  Toi'Tu. 
'ATvodldofiev  6e  koi  Tag 
T^poarjyopiag  tov  Tpdrcov 
TovTov  TO,  yap  diio 
afz<pu  fiEv  7iEyofiEV  /cat 
Toig  di'o  d/j(poTepovg, 
ndiTag  d'ov  7.EyoiiEv, 
ak7d  KaTO,  tuv  Tpiuv 
Tavr7]v  TTjv  Trpoarjyopiav 
fauEv  TvpuTov.  TavTa 
6'GirjiTEp  elpTjraL^  did  to 
T^v  (p'vaiv  avTTjv  ovrug 
'eT^dyeiv  diio7iovOov/i£v. " 

Aquinas,  Opera,  ed. 
Leo  XIII,  vol.  iii,  pp. 
4  and  5. 


{Note  2  continued  from  preceding  page.') 
Et  continuum  qui-  Et  continuum  qui- 
dem  est  igitur  quod  est  dem  separabile  est  in 
divisibile  secundum  res  suscipientes  divi- 
omnes  mensuras :  mag-  sionem  receptione  que 
nitudmis  vcro  quod  est  semper  est.  Corpus 
u  n  i  u  s  mensure,  est  vero  divisibile  est  in 
linea:  quod  duarum,  omnesdivisiones;  mag- 
superficies,  triumautem  nitudines  autem  que- 
corpus,  et  post  istam  cumque  habentes  di- 
nulla  mensura  est.  visionem  unam  sunt 
Omnia  enim  sunt  tria  linee,  et  que  duas  habet 
et  divisa  in  tres  men-  est  superficies,  et  que 
suras  et  similiter;  in-  tres  habet  est  corpus, 
q  u  i  u  n  t  Pythagorici,  Post  ista  autem  non 
quod  omnino  res  ter-  erit  magnitude  alia, 
minantur  tribus  men-  quoniam  res  o  m  n  e  s 
suris,  fine,  medio  et  sunt  tres  et  dividuntur 
principio;  et  hoc  est  in  tres  diraensiones;  et 
numerus  cuiuslibet  et  similiter  quidam  dicunt 
est  demonstrans  trini-  Pythagorici  quod  totum 
tatem  rerum.  Et  non  et  res  terminantur  tri- 
invenimus  istum  nume-  bus  dimensionibus,  fine 
rum  nisi  ex  natura  et  scilicet,  medio  et  prin- 
sustinemus  ipsum  quasi  cipio;  et  hie  quidem 
nobis  legem,  et  secun-  est  numerus  omnis  rei, 
dum  istum  numerum  et  significat  trinitatem 
tenemur  magnificare  rerum.  Nos  vero  non 
Deum  creatorem  re-  extraximus  hunc  nu- 
motum  a  modis  crea-  merum  nisi  ex  natura 
turarum  et  etiam  ap-  rerum  et  retinuimus 
pellamus  istum  nume-  ipsum  similem  legi 
rum  secundum  hunc  earum,  et  per  hunc 
modum :  dico  quod  quidem  numerum  ad- 
numeramus  duos  nu-  hibuimus  nos  i  p  s  o  s 
meros  duo,  et  duos  magnificare  Deum 
viros  duos  viros,  et  non  unum  creatorem  emi- 
dicimus  omnes.  Sed  nentem  proprietatibus 
hoc  omne  non  dicitur  eorum  que  sunt  creata. 
nisi  de  tribus  et  per  Nos  autem  nominavi- 
ipsum  nominantur  tria.  mus  hunc  numerum 
Primo  et  hoc  fuit  die-  hoc  modo,  ut  dicamus 
tum,  quoniam  natura  quia  nominantur  duo 
naturata  ita  fecit,  et  numeri  duo  numeri,  et 
nos  sequimur  ita  suum  duo  viri  duo  viri,  et  non 
opus,  sicut  prius  nar-  dicimus  omnes  neque 
ravimus."  toti,  quia  ponimus  sem- 

loxstxAz^m^Recherches,    per  et   omne  et  tutum 
pp.  407-8.  supra     tria     imprimis. 

Nos  autem  invenimus 
illud  ita,  quoniam  na- 
tura taliter  facit,  et 
imitamur  nos  e  i  u  s 
operationem,  sicut  nar- 
ravimus  nuper." 

Jourdain,  Recherches, 
pp.  408-409. 


Continuum  quidem 
igitur  est,  quod  divis- 
ibile in  semper  divis- 
ibilia,  corpus  autem, 
quod  omniquaeque  di- 
visibile. Magnitudinis 
autem  que  quidem  ad 
unum,  linea;  que  au- 
tem ad  duo,  planum; 
que  autem  ad  tria,  cor- 
pus. Et  preter  has  non 
est  alia  magnitude, 
propter  tria  omnia  esse 
et  ipsum  ter  omniqua- 
que.  Quemadmodum 
enim  aiunt  et  Pytha- 
gorici, totum  et  omnia 
tribus  determinata  sunt. 
Consummatio  enim  et 
medium  et  principium 
numerum  habent  eum 
qui  omnis;  hec  autem 
qui  trinitatis  est.  Prop- 
ter quod  a  natura  ac- 
cipientes  tanquam  leges 
illius  et  ad  sanctifica- 
t  i  o  n  e  s  deorum  hoc 
utimur  numero.  As- 
signamus  autem  et  ap- 
pellationes  secundum 
modum  hunc.  Que 
enim  duo  am  bo  dici- 
mus, et  duos  ambos; 
omnes  autem  non  dici- 
mus sed  de  tribus  hanc 
appellationem  dicimus 
primum.  Hoc  autem 
quemadmodum  dictum 
est,  propter  naturam 
ipsam  sic  inducentem 
sequimur." 

Aquinas,  Opera,  ed. 
Leo  XIII,  vol.  iii,  pp. 
4  and  5. 


74  MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM 

almost  the  whole  range  of  Aristotle's  writings.  Portions  of 
certain  works,  such  as  the  last  books  of  the  Metaphysics,  one 
or  two  smaller  treatises  on  unpopular  subjects,  such  as  the 
Poetics,  were  omitted. ' 

Thus  to  the  thirteenth  century  came  the  revelation  of  Aris- 
totle's manifold  resources  as  a  teacher,  not  only  of  logic  and 
dialectic,  but  of  all  conceivable  branches  of  metaphysics  and 

^ "  Quinquaginta  etiam  libros  (Aristotle)  fecit  de  animalibus  pretlaros,  ut 
Plinius  dicit  octavo  Naturalium  et  vidi  in  Greco;  sed  Latini  non  habent  nisi 
decern  novem  libellos  miseros  imperfectos.  De  Metaphysica  non  legunt  Latini 
nisi  quod  habent  de  decern  libelHs,  cum  multi  alii  sint  et  de  illis  decern  deficiunt 
in  translatione  quam  legunt  multa  capitula  et  quasi  linee  infinite."  Bacon,  Comp. 
Stud.,  p.  473,  Aquinas  before  his  death  knew  twelve  books  of  the  Metaphysics. 
The  Poetics  was  represented  by  a  translation  of  Herman  the  German  of  an 
Arabic  abridgment  by  Alfarabius.  See  Herman's  preface  in  Jourdain,  Recherches, 
p.  142,  and  comments  on  the  work  by  Bacon.  Op,  Mai.,  vol.  iii,  pp.  33,  85-88, 
Gk.  Grammar,  p,  28;  also  Bacon's  reference  to  Herman's  excuse  for  not  trans- 
lating the  Poetics  in  full,  supra,  p.  68,  n.  3.  Averroes  had  defined  tragedy  as 
the  art  of  blaming  and  comedy  as  the  art  of  praising,  Egger,  vol.  i,  p.  58.  With 
those  definitions  in  mind  it  was  naturally  difficult  to  get  much  meaning  from 
Aristotle's  literary  masterpiece. 

A  list  of  the  works  of  Aristotle  is  given  by  the  encyclopedist,  Vincent  of  Beau- 
vais.  "  De  arte  logica  libros  Cathegoriarum,  id  est  Predicamentorum,  et  secun- 
dum quosdam  libros  Sex  Principiorum  (apocryphal),  libros  quoque  Periermenias 
et  libros  Analeticorum  et  Posteriorum  Topicorum  et  Elencorum.  Porro  de 
phisica,  id  est  naturali  scientia,  libros  edidit  de  Phisico  Auditu,  de  Generatione  et 
Corruptione,  de  Anima,  de  Sensu  et  Sensato,  de  Memoria,  de  Reminiscentia,  de 
Somno  et  Vigilia,  de  Morte  et  Vita,  de  Vegetabilibus  et  etiam  de  Animalibus 
secundum  quosdam,  et  de  Quattuor  Elementis  (apocryphal);  libros  quoque 
Metheorum  et  Methaphisicorum.  Extat  etiam  liber  qui  dicitur  Perspectiva  Aris- 
totelis  (apocryphal)  et  alius,  ut  fertur,  qui  dicitur  Rhetorica  eiusdem,  et  est  ipsius 
epistola  ad  Alexandrum  de  Dieta  Servanda  (apocryphal).  De  his  autem  ipsius 
libris  exerpsi  plurima  in  prima  et  secunda  parte  istius  operis :  prefer  hoc  etiam 
scripsit  libros  Ethicorum  quattuor,  quorum  flores  morales  in  hoc  loco  inserere 
volui."  He  also  believes  that  Aristotle  composed  a  tract  "  De  Matrimonio." 
Spec.  Hist.,  lib.  iv,  cap.  84.  Ke  forgets  to  mention  the  book,  "  De  Coelo  et 
Mundo,"  from  which  he  quotes  elsewhere.  He  apparently  did  not  know  the 
Politics  or  the  Economics,  both  of  which  had  been  used  by  Albertus  and  Thomas, 
and  was  aware  of  the  Rhetoric  only  through  hearsay.  Cf.  the  list  of  the  works 
of  Aristotle  in  the  library  of  Augustine's  Abbey,  Canterbury,  James,  pp.  307-317, 
349-353,  etc.     Mandonnet,  pp.  xxvii-xl. 


MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM 


75 


natural  science.  At  first,  however,  the  attitude  of  the  Church 
toward  this  influx  of  pagan  learning  was  doubtful,  even  hos- 
tile.' The  Arab-Latin  versions  which  appeared  in  Paris  after 
I200  were  accompanied  by  the  glosses  and  commentaries  of 
Arabian  scholars,  especially  of  Avicenna  and  Averroes. 
These  brought  out  unmistakably  the  non- Christian  elements 
in  peripatetic  philosophy,  the  doctrines  of  the  eternity  of 
matter  and  the  unity  of  the  active  intellect,  and  expressly 
denied  the  possibility  of  corporal  resurrection  or  even  of 
individual  immortality.  Certain  pseudo-Aristotelian  works, 
in  particular  the  Neo-Platonic  Liber  de  Causis,  which  laid 
more  stress  upon  such  points  than  Aristotle  himself  had  ever 
cared  to  do,  became  current  at  the  same  time  and  increased 
the  uneasiness  with  which  the  Church  regarded  the  move- 
ment. Fears  seemed  speedily  justified  by  the  almost  simul- 
taneous appearance  of  doctors  at  Paris,  who  began  to  incul- 
cate seriously  certain  dreaded  philosophical  heresies.  In 
I2IO  an  ecclesiastical  council  met  in  the  city,  which  burned 
the  writings  of  one  heterodox  thinker,  David  de  Dinant, 
exhumed  the  body  and  excommunicated  the  soul  of  another, 
Almaric,  consigned  to  death  or  imprisonment  a  group  of 
Almaric's  disciples,  and  forbade  the  reading  in  public  or 
private  of  Aristotle's  books  on  natural  philosophy  or  the 
commentaries  upon  them.^  In  1215  the  papal  legate  Robert 
de  Courgon  drew  up  a  body  of  statutes  for  the  Masters  of 
Arts  at  Paris.  These  provided  that  lectures  should  be  given 
on  the  Logic  and,  if  desired,  on  the  Ethics  of  Aristotle,  but 

^  For  a  more  precise  account  of  the  agitation  over  Aristotle  see  Rashdall,  vol. 
i,  p.  353  et  seq.  For  an  interesting  allusion  by  Bacon  to  the  feeling  of  the  period 
see  extract  quoted  by  Rashdall,  vol.  ii,  p.  754. 

2  "  .  .  .  nee  libri  Aristotelis  de  naturali  philosophia  nee  commenta  legantur 
Parisius  publice  vel  secreto,  et  hoc  sub  pena  excommunicationis  inhibemus." 
Denifle,  Chart..,  vol,  i,  p.  70,  A  list  of  condemned  heretical  tenets  is  given, 
ibid,  pp.  71-2.  For  account  of  the  episode  see  William  the  Breton,  Recueil  des 
Hist.,  vol.  xvii,  pp.  82-4. 


76 


MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM 


none  upon  the  Metaphysics,  Natural  Philosophy  or  any  para- 
phrases of  them,  nor  upon  the  works  of  the  heretics  or  of 
Averroes.'  In  1231  Gregory  IX  ordered  penance  for  a 
number  of  masters  and  students  who  had  been  reading  the 
prohibited  volumes.  Shortly  afterwards,  however,  he  ap- 
pointed a  commission  to  examine  and  expurgate  the  same 
and  to  collect  parts  that  might  safely  and  profitably  be  given 
to  the  schools.^ 

From  this  time  on  alarm  died  down.  Heresy  was  tem- 
porarily suppressed.  The  difference  between  Aristotle  and 
his  interpreters  or  imitators  was  slowly  recognized  and  the 
injustice  of  including  all  under  the  same  indiscriminate  ban. 
William  of  Auvergne,  Bishop  of  Paris  from  1228,  did  not 
hesitate  to  use  the  proscribed  books  nor  to  defend  the  true 
Aristotle  from  the  charges  brought  against  him.  Alexander 
Hales,  the  pride  of  the  Franciscan  school,  drew  freely  from 
all  the  writings  of  the  philosopher  which  came  in  his  way. 
A  few  years  later  Albertus  Magnus  and  Thomas  Aquinas 
were  utilizing  the  wisdom  of  the  Greek  as  the  scientific 
foundation  for  the  most  exact  and  comprehensive  system  of 
Catholic  theology  yet  conceived.  3  By  their  efforts  Aristotle 
was  introduced  to  the  world  anew  in  Christian  guise,  supplied 

^ "  Et  quod  legant  libros  Aristotelis  de  dialecta  tam  de  veteri  quam  de  nova  in 
scolis  ordinarie  et  non  ad  cursum  .  .  .  Non  legant  festivis  diebus  nisi  philosophos 
et  rhetoricas  et  quadruvalia  et  barbarismum  et  Ethicam,  si  placet,  et  quartum 
Topichorum.  Non  legantur  libri  Aristotelis  de  methafisica  et  de  naturali  philo- 
sophia,  nee  summe  de  eisdem,  aut  de  doctrina  magis  ri  David  de  Dinant,  aut 
Anaalrici  heretici,  aut  Mauricii  Hyspani."     Denifle,  Chart.,  vol.  i,  pp.  78-9. 

'  "  Ceterum  cum  sicut  intelleximus  libri  naturalium,  qui  Parisius  in  Concilio 
provinciali  fuere  prohibiti,  quedam  utilia  et  inutilia  continere  dicantur,  ne  utile 
per  inutile  vitietur,  discretioni  vestre  .  .  .  mandamus,  quatinus  libros  ipsos  ex- 
aminantes  sicut  convenit  subtiliter  et  prudenter,  que  ibi  erronea  seu  scandali  vel 
offendiculi  legentibus  inveneritis  illativa  penitus  resecatis  ut  que  sunt  suspecta 
remotis  incunctanter  ac  inoffense  in  reliquis  studeatur."  Denifle,  Chart.,  vol.  i, 
pp.  143-4- 

^  Mandonnet,  pp.  xlv  et  seq. 


^  OFTHE 

L'^'fVERSITY 


MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM 


77 


with  Christian  interpretations  to  replace  the  Mohammedan 
or  Jewish  or  pagan  commentaries  which  had  first  discredited 
him.  Thenceforth  an  attack  upon  the  authority  of  Aristotle 
came  to  be  regarded  as  an  attack  upon  the  faith  of  Aquinas, 
the  accepted  theologian  of  the  church.  Even  the  excesses 
of  the  later  Averroists  who  persisted  in  retaining  the  Arabic 
commentators  and  brought  down  again  the  condemnation  of 
the  Church  upon  their  heads  did  not  seriously  impair  the 
growing  prestige  of  the  "Philosopher."'  A  list  of  text- 
books studied  in  1255  under  the  Parisian  Faculty  of  Arts 
contained  the  greater  part  of  the  translated  works,  the  books 
on  Logic,  Ethics,  Physics,  Metaphysics,  De  Animalibus,  De 
Coelo  et  Mundo,  the  first  and  fourth  books  of  the  Meteorics, 
De  Anima,  De  Generatione,  De  Sensu  et  Sensato,  De  Somno 
et  Vigilia,  De  Plantis,^  De  Memoria  et  Reminiscentia,  De 
Morte  et  Vita.  3  Some  were  the  subjects  of  regular  lectures 
throughout  the  year,  others  were  read  on  festivals  or  saints' 
days.  In  1366  a  body  of  regulations  for  the  university  drawn 
up  by  two  cardinal  legates  prescribed  almost  all  of  these 
same  books  for  the  degree  in  Arts.^  The  German  universi- 
ties as  they  arose  copied  in  the  main  the  curriculum,  as  they 
did  the  organization,  of  Paris.  Allusions  in  their  records  to 
customs  at  Paris  and  elsewhere  show  that  occasionally  lec- 
tures were  given  on  portions  of  Aristotle  not  included  in  the 
foregoing,  ofificial  lists,  namely  the  Politics,  Economics  and 
Rhetorics 

'  For  best  account  of  the  disturbances  of  the  later  thirteenth  century,  see  Man- 
donnet,  p.  Ixix,  and  thereafter  through  the  book. 

^  De  Plantis  is  still  included  in  editions  of  Aristotle,  though  probably  spurious. 

^  Denifle,  Chart.,  vol.  i,  p.  278, 

*  Gp.  cit.,  vol.  iii.  p.  145. 

^  Rashdall,  vol.  i,  p.  440.  For  influence  of  the  Politics  on  some  of  the  treatises 
on  government  of  the  thirteenth  and  fourteenth  centuries,  ^.  ^.,  on  the  De  Regi- 
mine  Principum  of  Gilles  de  Paris,  see  Sandys,  p.  565  and  n.  3. 


yS  MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM 

In  Church  and  University,  accordingly,  the  influence  of 
Aristotle  and  Aquinas  was  dominant  from  the  middle  of  the 
thirteenth  century  to  the  last  of  the  fifteenth.'  Whether  the 
student  toiled  in  the  elementary  subjects  of  logic  and  dia- 
lectic or  in  the  more  advanced  fields  of  science,  philosophy 
or  metaphysics  Aristotle  was  ever  before  him  as  ultimate 
authority  and  guide.  Originality  of  speculation  was  abashed 
by  reverence  for  Aristotle's  omniscience.^  Only  as  one 
entered  upon  certain  professional  courses  in  law  or  theology 
did  one  leave  Aristotle  behind,  although  even  the  Summa 
Theologiae  was  not  without  reminders  of  the  master  of  the 
knowledge  of  antiquity.  Medical  schools  of  the  South  took 
Aristotle's  physiological  treatises  as  a  basis  for  their  study 
of  anatomy. 3  A  few  daring  and  independent  thinkers  of  the 
fourteenth  century,  Duns  Scotus  and  William  of  Occam., 
ventured  to  assail  both  Aquinas'  interpretation  of  Aristotle 
and  the  theory  of  universals  expounded  by  Aristotle.  The 
former  they  declared  to  be  a  deliberate  misconstruction  of 
the  whole  trend   of   peripatetic   philosophy,  the   latter   they 

'  Unfortunately  for  these  later  generations  they  failed  to  imitate  the  two  great 
schoolmen,  Albertus  and  Aquinas,  in  the  sturdy  independence  of  judgment  which 
they  had  preserved  in  dealing  with  Aristotle.  Albertus  had  not  hesitated  to  say 
bluntly,  ''  Dicetautem  fortasse  aliquis  nos  Aristotelemnon  intellexisse,  et  ideo  non 
consentire  verbis  eius;  vel  quod  forte  ex  certa  scientia  contradicamus  ei  quan- 
tum ad  hominem  et  non  quantum  ad  rei  veritatem.  Et  ad  ilium  dicimus,  quod 
qui  credit  Aristotelem  fuisse  deum,  ille  debet  credere  quod  nunquam  erravit.  Si 
autem  credit  ipsum  esse  hominem,  tunc  procul  dubio  errare  potuit  sicut  et  nos." 
Physic,  lib.  viii,  tract,  i,  cap.  14;  Opera,  vol.  iii,  p.  553.  Aquinas'  dictum  on  the 
matter  of  authority  is  well  known.  "  Studium  philosophic  non  est  ad  hoc  quod 
sciatur  quid  homines  senserint,  sed  qualiter  se  habeat  Veritas  rerum."  De  Caelo, 
lib.  i,  lect.  22;    Opera,  vol.  iii,  p.  91. 

'^  Through  all  this  period  Aristotle  is  frequently  exalted  as  almost  more  than 
human,  e.  g.,  Richard  de  Bury,  a  scholar  of  exceptional  intelligence,  writes  about 
1344  of  him  as  one  "  of  gigantic  mind,  in  whom  it  pleased  Nature  to  try  how  great 
a  portion  of  reason  she  could  admit  into  mortality,  and  whom  the  Most  High 
made  but  little  inferior  to  the  angels."     Fhilobtblion,  cap.  x,  p.  69. 

'  Rashdall,  vol.  i,  p.  235, 


MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM  yg 

denounced  as  impracticable  realism.  In  its  place  they 
advocated  a  new  nominalism  opposed  as  completely  to  Plato 
as  to  the  Stagirite.  But  their  arguments  appealed  only  to 
radical  or  impressionable  circles  and  failed  to  shake  the 
resolution  of  the  Church  and  the  leading  continental  uni- 
versities to  stand  immovably  by  the  leaders  whom  they  had 
chosen.  In  these  great  conservative  institutions  a  barren 
and  pedantic  subservience  to  authority  took  the  place  of  the 
hopefulness  and  promise  of  the  twelfth  and  early  thirteenth 
centuries.  The  baneful  overestimate  of  the  deference  due 
to  Aristotle  affected  scholarship  in  Paris  as  late  as  1629, 
when  the  Parlement  there  assembled  forbade  any  attack  upon 
his  theories  under  pain  of  death.  ^ 

We  cannot  omit  entirely  all  mention  of  medieval  transla- 
tions of  the  works  of  the  Greek  fathers  of  the  Church  prized 
in  many  cases  far  above  any  relics  of  the  earlier  and  pro- 
faner  literature.  The  Vulgate  was  itself,  of  course,  a  transla- 
tion from  the  Greek  reputed  to  be  the  work  of  St.  Jerome 
and  commonly  looked  upon  as  verbally  inspired  like  the 
original.-  Naturally  also  discussions  ot  important  themes  by 
eminent  Eastern  divines  in  the  days  when  the  Roman 
Empire  yet  held  East  and  West  together  were  often  turned 
into  Latin  for  the  benefit  of  the  congregations  that  under- 
stood only  the  Roman  tongue.  Jerome  and  his  contem- 
porary, the  priest  Rufinus,  accomplished  the  most  of  such 

1  It  is  not  possible  here  to  discuss  the  medieval  legends  of  Aristotle  as  magician 
or  lover  of  womankind.  Such  legends  were  late  in  growth,  and  were  not  as  a 
rule  repeated  by  the  historians;  in  fact,  were  never  accepted  so  seriously  as  the 
older  myths.     See  for  references  Comparetti,  pp.  327  ei  seq. 

^"  In  his  omnibus  Donatum  non  sequimur  quia  fortiorem  in  Divinis  Scripturis 
auctoritatem  tenemus.  Corticem  enim,  silicem,  stirpem  et  diem  communis  gen- 
eris esse  non  negamus.  Radicem  vero  et  finem  et  pinum  feminini  generis  esse 
Scripturarum  auctoritate  docemur."  Smaragdus,  the  grammarian.  Quoted  in 
Thurot,  Notices,  p.  8l.  Now  and  then  one  finds  a  bolder  altitude  of  critcism  as  in 
Abelard  and  Bacon.  Nicholas  de  Lyra  wrote  a  "  Tractatus  de  Differentia  Hebraice 
et  LatineTranslationis."     Bandini,  Bib.  Leap.,  vol.  iii,  p.  93. 


8o  MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM 

work  in  their  generation.'  Jerome  did  something  to  redeem 
the  name  of  Origen  from  utter  reprobation  by  translating 
many  of  his  homeHes  on  books  of  the  Old  and  New  Testa- 
ments. He  furthermore  composed  free  paraphrases  of  the 
Chronicle  and  other  minor  works  of  Eusebius  and  of  several 
treatises  of  Philo.  Rufinus,  applying  himself  yet  more 
industriously,  performed  an  inestimable  service  for  medieval 
students  by  furnishing  them  with  Latin  renderings  of 
Josephus'  De  Bello  Judaico,  Eusebius'  Ecclesiastical  History, 
St.  Basil's  Hexaemeron  and  Regulae  and  numerous  sermons 
of  Origen,  Gregory  Nazianzen  and  Pamphilius  the  Martyr. 
Ecclesiastical  treatises  were  still  translated,  though  at  longer 
intervals,  during  the  period  between  the  fall  of  the  Western 
Empire  and  the  final  severance  of  connection  with  the  church 
at  Constantinople.  In  several  instances  the  authors  were 
monks  who  remained  anonymous  and  the  dates  of  their 
compositions  are  hard  to  fix.  We  hear,  however,  that  in  the 
early  sixth  century  Cassiodorus,  the  minister  of  Theodoric, 
sought  to  complete  the  History  of  Eusebius  by  ordering 
translations  of  the  Greek  church  writers,  Socrates,  Sozomenus 
and  Theodoret  and  then  by  casting  the  results  into  one  com- 
posite narrative,  known  thereafter  as  the  Historia  Tripartita.^ 
Dionyius  Exiguus,  a  Scythian,  who  became  in  later  life  a 
Roman  abbot  and  a  friend  of  Cassiodorus,  contributed  ver- 
sions of  an  epistle  of  Cyril  of  Alexandria,  a  life  of  St. 
Pachomius,  two  or  three  works  of  Proclus  and  Gregory  of 
Nyssa  and,  most  important  of  all,  the  canons  and  decrees  of 
the  early  church  councils.3  In  the  ninth  century  Erigena 
prepared  a  rendering  of  the  Celestial  Hierarchy  of  Dionysius 

'  The  Kirchen  Lexikon  on  Hieronymus  and  Rufinus  gives  convenient  sum- 
maries. 

^  Op.  cit.  on  Cassiodorus,  The  Historia  Tripartita  is  included  among  the  works 
of  Cassiodorus  in  Migne,  vol.  69.     See  his  own  preface,  pp.  879-882. 

*  See  Dionysius  Exiguus,  Opera,  Migne,  vol.  67;    in  particular,  pp.  141 -2. 


MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM  8l 

the  Areopagite,  perhaps  the  most  influential,  single  Greek 
addition  to  the  library  of  Roman  theology.  Anastasius, 
keeper  of  the  papal  archives  under  Nicholas  I  and  John 
VIII,  put  into  Latin  the  Chronography  of  Nicephorus  and 
miscellaneous  works  by  George  Syncellus,  Theophanes  and 
other  theologians.' 

In  the  eleventh  century  the  library  of  the  monastery  at 
Monte  Cassino  possessed  the  version  of  the  Regula  Basilii, 
a  collection  of  sermons  by  Gregory  Nazianzen,  Josephus, 
Origen  on  the  Canticles  and  Chrysostom's  De  Reparatione 
Lapsi,  Dialogus  cum  Alberico  Diacono  and  Dialogus  de 
Miraculis.^  In  the  twelfth  century  Burgundio,  the  Pisan 
lawyer,  translated  for  Eugene  III  the  homilies  of  Chrysos- 
tom  on  Matthew  and  on  John,  one  hundred  chapters  from 
the  disquisition  De  Orthodoxa  Fide  by  John  Damascene, 
perhaps  also  the  Apologetics  of  Gregory  Nazianzen  and 
other  patristic  writings.^  John  of  Salisbury  procured  a  new 
version  of  Dionysius  the  Areopagite,  including  both  the 
Celestial  and  Ecclesiastical  Hierarchies.^*  A  few  more  spo- 
radic translations  from  Greek  theologians  were  produced  in 
the  thirteenth  century  in  spite  of  the  prevalent  craze  for 
Aristotle.     Grosseteste  gave  an  impulse  to  this  as  well  as  to 

"^  Kirchen  LeAikon.     Also  Gregorovius,  History  0/ AW/^,  vol.  iii,  p.  150.     For 
Erigena,  see  Poole,  Illustrations  of  Med.  Thought,  p().  53  et  seq. 
''  Muratori,  Rer,  Ital.  Scrip.,  vol.  iv,  pp.  473-4. 

^  'its.  supra,  p.  12  Gidel,  Nouvelles  Etudes,  p.  235.  Traversari,  vol.  i,  pp.  ccxvii, 
ccxviii.  Burgundio's  translations,  like  others  uf  the  time,  were  later  sharply  criti- 
cized by  the  humanists  fur  their  inelegance.  "  Kgo  antea  Augustinum  legebam, 
nunc  est  in  manibus  lo.  (  hrysostomus.  Legi  nonnuUa  eius  opuscula  et  sermones 
omni  cum  venustate  tranblata;  nunc  vero  alia  percurru  longe  inferioris  eloquentie, 
prout  varii  transla tores  fuere  .  .  .  Prestant  Ixxxviii  Homelie  in  Evangelium 
loannis,  quaruin  si  interpres  fuisset  eloquens,  nil  doctius,  nil  gravius,  nil  magnifi- 
centius  legii-ses.  Sed  is  fuit  Pisanus  quidatn,  qui  se  fatetur  in  Pr.'logo  de  verbo 
aJ  verl)um  transferre;  nee  tanta  est  translatoris  inconcinnitas,  quin  mirum  in 
modum  eluceat  facundia  auctoris."     Poggio,  Epistolae,  vol.  i,  pp.  30-31. 

*  See  supra,  p.  22. 


82  MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM 

scientific  work.^  Vincent  of  Beauvais  was  able  to  make  out 
impressive  lists  of  the  books  of  famous  Eastern  churchmen 
which  he  had  seen  in  Latin,  seven  miscellaneous  treatises  by 
Clement  of  Alexandria,  a  voluminous  collection  of  Origen's 
homelies  on  the  parts  of  the  Bible,  ten  compositions  in  prose 
and  verse  by  Gregory  Nazianzen,  four  special  discourses  by 
Chrysostom,  beside  numerous  sermons.^  Works  like  these 
appealed,  of  course,  to  the  better  read  among  the  clergy, 
and  copies  of  one  or  more  were  to  be  found  in  almost  every 
well  stocked  convent  library.3  Chrysostom  and  Gregory  Nazi- 
anzen were  apparently  the  most  preferred  of  the  theologians. 

'  See  supra,  pp.  13-14,  "  Similiter  libri  doctorum  magnorum,  ut  beatorum 
Dionysii,  Basilii,  lohannis  Chrysostomi,  lohannis  Damasceni  et  aliorum  multorum 
deficiunt;  quorum  tamen  aliquos  dominus  Robertas  prefatus  episcopus  vertit  in 
Latinum,  et  alii  quosdam  alios  ante  eum;  cuius  opus  est  valde  gratum  theologis." 
Bacon,  Op.  Mai.,  vol.  iii,  p.  84. 

''■  The  titles  which  he  gives  are  as  follows :  Clement  of  Alexandria,  Stromatus 
(Stromata),  Adversus  Gentiles,  De  leiunio  Disputatio,  a  work  beginning  "Quis- 
nam  ille  dives  sit  qui  salvetur,"  De  Obtrectatione,  De  Canonibus  Ecclesiasticis, 
Adversus  eos  qui  ludeorum  sequuntur  errorem.  Spec.  Hist.,  lib.  xi,  cap.  126. 
Of  Origen,  seventeen  homilies  on  Genesis,  thirteen  on  Exodus,  sixteen  on  Leviti- 
cus, twenty-eight  on  Numbers,  twenty-six  on  Joshua,  nine  on  Judges,  five  on  the 
thirty-sixth  Psalm,  two  on  the  thirty-seventh,  two  on  the  thirty-eighth,  nine  on 
Isaiah,  fourteen  on  Jeremiah,  fourteen  on  Ezekiel,  twenty-six  on  Matthew,  thirty- 
eight  on  Luke,  ten  on  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  with  tracts  on  Job,  the  Can- 
ticles, John  and  others.  Op.  «V.,  lib.  xii,  cap.  11.  Of  Gregory  Nazianzen,  a 
poem  on  the  death  of  Caesar's  brother,  encomia  in  verse  of  the  Maccabees,  Cyp- 
rian, Athanasius  and  the  philosopher  Maximus,  invectives  against  the  same 
Maximus,  Eunomius  and  the  Emperor  Julian,  Hexameron  on  Marriage  and  Vir- 
ginity, De  Spiritu  Sancto.  Op.  cit.,  lib.  xv,  cap.  90.  Of  Chrysostom,  "  Quod 
nemo  leditur  nisi  a  semetipso,"  De  Reparatione  Lapsi,  De  Compunctione  Cordis, 
Commentary  on  Matthew,  ninety  homilies  on  Matthew,  eighty-eight  on  John, 
thirty-four  on  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  seven  in  eulogy  of  St.  Paul,  and  thirty 
selected  sermons.  "Sup.  Matheus  in  modum  commentariorum  li.  ii.  De  his 
tamen  dubito  an  sint  lohannis  illius  Crisostomi  licet  ei  ascribantur,  an  forte 
alterius  lohannis  nescio  cuius.  Nam  et  inveniuntur  alias  omelie  lohannis  Crisos- 
tomi super  Matheum  xc,  que  tamen  raro  inveniuntur  omnes  simul  sed  tantum  xxv 
que  apud  nos  sunt."     Op.  cit.,  lib.  xviii,  cap.  42.     Cf.  James,  pp.  4C-41. 

'  See  Becker,  Index,  James,  passim. 


MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM  g^ 

In  spite  of  all  defence,  Clement  and  Origen  lay  to  most 
minds  under  a  cloud  of  heterodoxy,  and  their  names  were 
less  often  mentioned.'  Josephus  and  Eusebius  were  relied 
upon  as  sources  by  every  serious  historian. 

From  Vincent's  pages  one  may  also  learn  how  much  the 
hagiography  of  the  Middle  Ages  was  enriched  by  Eastern 
traditions.  Lives  of  Greek  saints,  their  miracles  and  suffer- 
ings, are  there  liberally  interspersed  among  similar  accounts 
of  their  Western  brethren.  The  collection  of  martyr  legends 
compiled  by  the  Byzantine  statesman,  Simon  Metaphrastes, 
and  translated  by  monks  of  Southern  Italy,  was  doubtless 
the  source  of  Vincent's  information.^  Tales  like  these  of 
angelic  heroism  in  the  face  of  demoniacal  persecution  fired 
the  reader's  imagination  as  thoroughly  as  did  the  secular 
histories  of  the  fortitude  of  Trojan  warriors  or  of  the  con- 
quering Alexander.  The  element  of  the  marvelous,  the 
moral  lessons  of  courage  and  endurance  and  faith  in  unseen 
powers  were  present  in  all.  The  most  popular  Western  ver- 
sion of  the  martyrology  was  the  Golden  Legend  of  Jacques 
de  Voragine,  written  not  far  from  the  time  when  Vincent  was 
accumulating  material  for  his  ponderous  encyclopedia. 

Barely  an  allusion  can  be  made  to  the  Greek  science,  ex- 
clusive of  Aristotle's,  which  penetrated  to  the  Middle  Ages. 
The  names  of  a  few  Greek  mathematicians  were  preserved 
and  associated  with  unsubstantial  epigrams  or  anecdotes, 
but  any  real  knowledge  of  their  works  was  for  the  most  part 
lost.      Adelard  of   Bath,  who   about   1130  made    a   tour   of 

^  For  influence  of  Origan's  teaching  in  shaping  the  medieval  theory  of  lunacy 
as  demoniacal  possession  see  Dollinger,  Akad.  Voririige,  vol.  i,  p.  182,  Studies, 
p.  183. 

^  For  a  suggestive  brief  account  of  the  influence  of  Greek  martyrology  on  the 
West  see  Dollinger,  Akad.  Vorird^e,  pp.  180-2.  This  subject  belongs  properly 
under  the  heading  of  later  Byzantme  contributions  to  the  Middle  Ages,  and  as 
such  cannot  be  treated  adequately  here. 


84 


MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM 


Arab  schools  in  Spain,  Egypt  and  Asia  Minor,  translated 
Euclid  from  the  Arabic  into  Latin,  and  before  the  end  of  the 
century  Gerard  of  Cremona  composed  a  similar  version  of 
the  Almagest  of  Ptolemy.  Both  works  soon  came  into  gen- 
eral use  in  the  schools,  but  they  were  followed  by  no  others 
of  their  kind.'  The  one  branch  of  science  in  which  a  cer- 
tain continuity  of  study  of  the  Greek  authors  was  maintained 
was  medicine.  The  Therapeutics  of  Galen,  the  Aphorisms, 
De  Herbis  and  De  Concordia  of  Hippocrates  existed  in  Latin 
form  in  very  early  times. ^  From  the  Dark  Ages  onward 
considerable  ignorance  and  barbarity  prevailed  in  the  teach- 
ing and  practice  of  medicine,  but  during  the  eleventh  century 
there  took  place  a  reform  traditionally  associated  with  the 
name  of  Constantinus  Africanus,  an  Italian.  He  is  said  to 
have  crossed  the  Mediterranean  to  North  Africa,  and  after 
an  absence  of  years  to  have  brought  back  with  him  a  knowl- 
edge of  Greek  and  Arabic  and  fresh  texts  of  the  Greek 
writers  on  the  healing  arts.^  Whatever  the  actual  events 
which  brought  the  reform  about,  the  result  was  assuredly  an 

^  Rashdall,  vol.  i,  p.  442.     Bandini,  Cat.  Codd.  Lai.,  vol.  iii,  col.  312: 
"  Langue  doit  estre  refrenee  : 
Car  nous  lisons  dans  Tholomee 
Une  parole  moult  honeste 
Au  comencier  de  s'Almageste, 
Que  sages  est  cis  qui  met  paine 
A  ce  que  sa  langue  se  refraine." 
Roman  de  la  Rose,  11.  7780,  et  seq.;  ed.  Michel,  vol.  i,  p.  234.     On  Gerard  of 
Cremona,  see  also  supra,  p.  68.     Some  brief  excerpts  on  astronomy  were  trans- 
lated from  the  original  of  Ptolemy  during  the  twelfth  century,  but  no  other  entire 
work.     Bandini,  Bib.  Leop.,  vol.  ii,  p.  398. 

*  See  sixth  century  references  to  Hippocrates  and  Galen  in  Latin.  Gidel.  p. 
203. 

^  For  account  of  the  works  and  translations  of  Constantinus,  see  Muralori,  Rer. 
Ital.  Script.,  vol.  iv,  p.  455.  For  account  of  the  whole  movement  with  detailed  ref- 
erences, see  Rashdall,  vol.  i,  pp.  79-82,  and  especially  Paine,  Med. cine.  Encyclo- 
pedia Britannica.  The  chief  original  contribution  of  the  Arabs  to  medical  pro- 
gress was  in  the  department  of  pharmacy. 


MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM  8^ 

increase  in  the  value  put  upon  the  authority  of  the  Greek 
physicians  and  their  Arabian  interpreters.  John  of  SaHs- 
bury  in  the  next  century  spoke  petulantly  of  young  doctors 
who  came  back  from  Salerno  or  Montpellier,  bragging  of 
Galen  and  Hippocrates  and  dinning  into  every  one's  ears 
the  outlandish  words  they  had  picked  up.'  William  of 
Mocrbeka  added  to  his  translations  of  Aristotle  one  each  of 
Galen  and  Hippocrates.^  Vincent  of  Beauvais  quoted  from 
several  of  the  works  of  Hippocrates  and  enumerated  twenty- 
five  treatises  attributed  to  Galen,  De  Complexionibus,  De 
Anatomia,  De  Regimine  Sanitatis,  Libri  Diademiarum,  De 
Perfectis  Medicinis,  Passionarium,  Antidotarium  and  others.3 
In  Dante's  time  the  title  Aphorisms  had  become  a  synonym 
for  the  medical  art.'*  In  brief,  the  best  of  medieval  medical 
knowledge  was  Greek,  and  medical  enlightenment  was  de- 

^  "  Alii  autem  suum  in  philosophia  intuentes  defectum,  Salernum  vel  ad  Monte- 
pessulanutn  profecti,  facti  sunt  clientuli  medicorum,  et  repente  quales  fuerant  phil- 
osophi,  tales  m  momento  medici  eruperunt.  Fallacibus  enim  referti  experimentis 
in  brevi  redeunt,  sedulo  exercentes  quod  didicerunt.  Hippocratem  ostentant  aut 
Galenum :  verba  prof erunt  inaudita:  ad  omnia  suos  Icquuntur  aphorismos:  et 
mentes  humanas,  velut  afflatas  tonitruis  sic  percellunt  nominibus  inauditis."  Me- 
t  loq.,  lib.  i,  cap.  4;  Aliqve,  vol.  199,  p.  830.  A  catalogue  of  the  library  at  Dur- 
ham in  the  twelfth  century  includes  a  number  of  medical  books;  among  others, 
three  of  Galen's  works  and  two  of  Hyppocrates',  e.g.,"'  liber  Ypocrates  peri  tio 
noxon  nosematoii,"  [Tvepl  ruv  6^cu}v  voarifianjv).  Becker,  p.  244.  The  library  of 
Christ  Church,  Canterbury,  near  the  end  of  the  thirteenth  century  possessed  about 
sixty  volumes  of  medical  treatises  and  commentaries,  vv^ith  six  different  works  of 
Hippocrates  and  seven  of  Galen.  James,  pp.  55-62,  81.  As  Galen  grew  more 
popular  there  was  an  attempt,  as  there  had  been  in  the  case  of  Plato,  to  connect 
him  with  Christianity.  "  Ipse  (Galen)  fuit  coetaneus  Christo  et  diciturin  Chron- 
icis  quod  ipse  audiens  miraculaque  faciebat  Christus  de  sanatione  infirmorum  venit 
ad  ipsum,  pjstea  in  reditu  mortuus  est  in  itinere  unde  dicitur  quod  sepulcrum  eius 
est  in  Sicilia."  From  comment  on  Galen  of  early  fifteenth  century.  Bandini, 
Cat.  Codd.  Lat.,  vol.  iii,  p.  28. 

^  See  supra,  p.  16. 

'  Spec.  Hist.,  lib,  xi,  cap.  92. 

*  Paradiso,  canto  xi,  1.  4.  Cf.  the  list  of  works  prescribed  for  the  license  in 
medicine  at  Montpellier,  in  1309.     Rashdall,  vol.  li,  pt.  i,  pp.  123-4. 


86  MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM 

pendent  upon  adherence  to  Greek  precepts  and  example. 
The  physicians  of  the  Middle  Ages  made  no  advance  in 
skill  or  wisdom  beyond  their  teachers.  Hippocrates  and 
Galen  were  the  safest  and  most  respected  guides  until  the 
seventeenth  century  brought  a  renewal  of  original  investiga- 
tion and  discovery. 

In  closing  our  fragmentary  sketch  of  what  was  known  of 
the  Greeks  and  their  works  during  the  Middle  Ages  we  note 
once  more  that  in  spite  of  an  almost  universal  ignorance  of 
their  language  considerable  information  was  obtained  through 
divers  channels. '  Some  came  from  the  Roman  writers  of 
antiquity  who  took  their  inspiration  from  the  models  furn- 
ished them  by  Hellas,  some  from  later  paraphrases  or  trans- 
lations. The  latter,  however,  were  for  the  most  part  made 
after  the  decay  of  literary  taste  in  the  West  rendered  impos- 
sible any  true  artistic  sympathy  on  the  part  of  the  translator. 
Flights  of  fancy  or  romance  were  accepted  as  literal  history. 
The  clarity,  the  subtlety  and  the  buoyancy  of  Greek  thought 
were  dulled,  compressed  and  recast  to  suit  a  simpleminded, 
unanalytic  age.  The  spirit  of  what  was  known  was  there- 
fore largely  misunderstood,  and  much  that  was  needed  to 
give  coherence  or  seriousness  to  Greek  achievement  was  for- 
gotten altogether.  Many  noble  names  were  lost  or  con- 
nected vaguely  with  an  uncomprehended  greatness  or  cheap- 
ened by  association  with  trivialities. 

As  final  illustration  we  observe  the  attitude  toward  the 
Greek  past  of  the  supreme,  literary  artist  who  lived  when  the 
Middle  Ages  were  drawing  toward  their  close.  Uante  can- 
not grant  to  any  pagan  a  place  even  among  the  saving  pains 
of  Purgatory.  In  Hell  they  all  abide  without  hope  of  change, 
but  those  who  lived  honorably  without  sin  save  that  of  ignor- 
ance are   in  the  first  circle   free  from   torment,  "  neither  sad 

1  See  summary  in  ICorting,  vol.  iii,  pp.  88  el  seq.,  205-6. 


MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM  8/ 

nor  glad."  Foremost  in  the  distinguished  company  is 
"  Homer,  the  sovereign  poet,"  "  that  Lord  of  the  loftiest  song 
which  above  the  others  as  an  eagle  flies,"  "  that  Greek  whom 
the  muses  suckled  more  than  any  other  ever." '  No  second 
Hellenic  poet,  however,  ranks  among  the  five  greatest.  The 
other  four  are  Horace,  Ovid,  Lucan  and  Vergil.  A  little 
apart  is  Aristotle,  "  the  Master  of  those  who  know,  seated 
amid  the  philosophic  family;  all  regard  him,  all  do  him 
honor."  ^  Near  him  stand  Socrates  and  Plato,  Democritus, 
"who  ascribes  the  world  to  chance,"  Diogenes,  Anaxagoras 
and  Thales,  Empedocles,  Heraclitus  and  Zeno,  Dioscorides, 
"the  good  collector  of  the  qualities,"  Orpheus,  Euclid,  "the 
geometer,"  Ptolemy,  Hippocrates,  Avicenna,  Galen,  and 
Averroes,  "  who  made  the  great  comment."  3  Not  far  dis- 
tant are  Euripides,  Antiphon,  Simonides,  Agathon,  "and 
many  other  Greeks  who  of  old  adorned  their  brows  with 
laurel."''  These  make  up  the  number  that  Dante  chooses 
to  commemorate  for  attainments  in  literature. 

In  the  same  quiet  field  are  certain  others  who  have  won 
repose  by  heroic  lives,  Electra,  Hector,  Antigone,  Deiphile 
and  Argia,  Ismene,  "sad  even  as  she  was,"  Hypsipyle,  "who 
showed  Langia,"  "  the  daughter  of  Tircsias  and  Thetis,  and 
Deidamia  with  her  sisters."  ^  Other  regions  of  the  Inferno 
contain  Greeks  who  deserve  a  more  tragic  fate.  In  the  wail- 
ing whirlwind  of  carnal  sinners  are  Paris  and  Helen,  "  for 
whom  so  long  a  time  of  ill  revolved,"  and  Achilles,  "  who  at 

1  Inferno,  Canto  iv,  11.  88,  95,  96.  Purgatorio,  Canto  xxii,  11.  101-2.  The  trans- 
lation is  Charles  Eliot  Norton's,  Reverence  like  this  here  expressed  for  Homer 
was  of  course  learned  from  the  Latin  classics.  Dante  could  never  have  paid  that 
tribute  from  knowledge  only  of  Diclys  or  Dares  or  Pindar  the  Theban. 

"^Inferno,  Canto  iv,  11.  131-3. 

'  Ibid.,  11.  136,  142,  144. 

^Purgatorio,  canto  xxii,  11.  107-8. 

^Purgatorio,  canto  xxii,  11.  111-114. 


88  MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM 

the  end  fought  with  love."  '  Under  the  rain  of  fire  in  the 
seventh  circle  a  scornful,  obdurate  soul  is  Capaneus,  one  of 
the  seven  kings  who  besieged  Thebes.^  Another  proud 
shade  who  beneath  the  scourge  of  demons  will  not  shed  a 
tear  is  Jason,  "  who  by  courage  and  by  wit  despoiled  the 
Colchians  of  their  ram,"  and  deceived  and  left  Hypsipyle.^ 
Swathed  in  the  flames  of  the  eighth  pit  are  Ulysses  and 
Diomed,  "together  in  punishment  as  of  old  in  wrath. 
Within  their  flame  they  groan  for  the  ambush  of  the  horse 
that  made  the  gate  whence  the  gentle  seed  of  the  Romans 
issued  forth.  Within  it  they  lament  for  the  artifice  whereby 
the  dead  Deidamia  still  mourns  for  Achilles,  and  there  for 
the  Palladium  they  bear  the  penalty."  ^  Inferno  is  equipped 
with  features  of  the  Greek  underworld  described  in  the  Eneid, 
Pluto,  Cerberus,  the  Styx  and  the  Lethe,  and  with  the  fam- 
ous monstrosities  of  the  Gorgon,  the  Furies  and  the  Mino- 
taur. In  general  the  attitude  of  Dante  is  more  sober,  more 
moral,  more  independent  than  that  of  the  ordinary  medieval 
reader.  The  valor  of  a  warrior  is  not  sufificient  atonement 
for  treachery  or  lust.  Even  Alexander  suffers  among  the 
cruel  tyrants  in  the  river  of  blood. s  But  Dante's  range  of 
knowledge  and  of  interest  is  as  limited  as  that  of  his  prede- 
cessors for  many  generations.  The  familiar  tales  of  the  old 
mythology,  a  philosophical  system  or  two  comprise,  to  his 
mind,  the  story  of  the  Greek  race.  The  men  who  mean  the 
most  to  him,  who  are  alive  to  him,  are  Jason,  Paris  and 
Ulysses,  Plato  and  Aristotle. 

'  Inferno,  canto  v,  11.  64-66.    The  reference    here  is  to  the    current  story  of 
Achilles'  infatuation  for  Polyxena. 
^  Op.  cit.,  canto  xiv,  1.  43  et  seq. 
'  Op.  cit.,  canto  xviii,  11.  S6-7. 
*  Op.  cit.,  canto  xxvi,  11.  ^d  et  seq. 
"  Op.  cit.,  canto  xii,  1.  107. 


CHAPTER  III 

We  have  chosen  the  Divine  Comedy  as  our  final  illustra- 
tion of  medieval  opinion  of  the  Greek  past,  although  that 
opinion  continued  to  be  prevalent  even  in  Italy  for  a  century 
and  more  after  the  Comedy  was  written.  But  the  generation 
following  Dante  included  a  man  of  scholarship  and  ambition 
who  undertook  to  inaugurate  a  new  epoch  in  Greek  as  in  Latin 
letters  and  whose  name  must  be  mentioned  with  special  dis- 
tinction in  any  account  of  the  progress  of  learning  in  the 
West.  In  the  generation  before  Dante,  Roger  Bacon  had 
written  wistfully  of  the  lost  wisdom  of  the  Greeks  which  none 
of  the  Latins  could  regain  and  had  laboriously  compiled  his 
grammar  to  make  possible  again  the  study  of  the  Greek 
language,  but  his  arguments  and  his  toil  were  unknown 
beyond  a  narrow  circle  and  empty  of  results.  With  Pe- 
trarch we  arrive  at  one  who  actually  set  on  foot  a  definite 
movement  which  was  not  entirely  to  cease  until  its  end  had 
been  accomplished  and  Homer,  Sophocles,  and  Plato  were 
read  again  in  their  own  tongue  in  Western  Europe. 

The  story  of  Petrarch's  efforts  to  study  Greek  has  been 
told  over  more  than  once  in  recent  years.'  It  is,  therefore, 
only  necessary  to  recapitulate  it  briefly  here.  From  Cicero, 
his  literary  master,  he  early  learned  to  prefer  Plato  to  Aris- 
totle and  having  acquired  a  Greek  text  of  certain  of  the 
dialogues  he  yearned  to  read    it.^     The  Timaeus  in  the  old 

'  For  fullest  account  see  Nolhac,  Petrarque  et  V  Humanisme,  ck.  viii.  Cf.  also 
Voigt,  Wiederbelebung  des  class.  Alterthums,  vol.  i,  pp.  50  et  seq.,  vol.  ii,  pp.  105-9. 
Korting,  vol.  i,  pp.  472-480. 

^"  A  maioribus  Plato,  Aristoteles  laudatur  a  pluribus."  De  Ignorantia,  0pp., 
p.  1053. 

89 


90  MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM 

version  of  Chalcidius  he  found  tantalizingly  inadequate.  In 
1339  and  again  in  1342  one  Barlaam,  a  Calabrian  monk,  who 
had  lived  in  Constantinople  and  ranked  as  a  scholar  of  great 
erudition,  came  on  church  business  as  representative  of  the 
Eastern  emperor  to  the  papal  court  at  Avignon.'  During 
his  second  sojourn  Petrarch  arranged  for  lessons  m  Greek, 
the  manuscript  of  Plato  to  serve  as  textbook.  The  lessons, 
however,  were  of  short  duration.  Before  the  year  was  over 
Barlaam  on  Petrarch's  own  recommendation  was  consecrated 
bishop  of  Gerazzo  in  Calabria  and  left  Avignon  for  his  new 
charge.^  Petrarch  still  hoped  that  the  work  might  be  re- 
sumed at  some  future  opportunity,  but  before  that  became 
possible  Barlaam  died.  In  Naples  he  was  the  friend  of  Paolo 
Perugino,  the  librarian  of  Robert,  King  of  Sicily,  and  had 
supplied  him  with  various  information  on  Greek  customs 
and  legends. 3  But  if  one  may  judge  from  the  scantiness  of 
Petrarch's  acquisitions  Barlaam  was  not  a  successful  teacher. 
To  begin  with  he  possessed  but  an  indifferent  command  of 
Latin,  and  employed  the  lesson  hours  in  practicing  Latin  con- 
versation with  his  pupil  quite  as  often  as  in  initiating  the  pupil 

'  Boccaccio  describes  him  as  "  corpore  pusillutn,  pregrandem  tamen  scientia,  et 
Grecis  Uteris  adeo  eruditum  ut  imperatorum  et  principum  Grecorum  atque  doc- 
torum  hominum  privilegia  haberet  testantia  ne  dum  his  temporibus  apud  Grecos 
esse,  sed  nee  a  multis  secuhs  citra  fuisse  virum  tam  insigni  tamque  grandi  scientia 
preditum."  Boccaccio  had  heard  that  he  had  wiitten  some  books  but  had  never 
seen  them.  De.  Gen.  Dtor.,  lib.  xv,  cap.  6,  Hecker,  Boccaccio  funde,  p.  271. 
On  Barlaam's  career  see  Hefele,  vol.  vi,  pp.  649  et  seq. 

-"Barlaam  nostrum  mihi  mors  abstuHt,  et  ut  verum  fatear,  ilium  ego  niihi 
prius  abstuleram.  lacturam  meam,  dum  honori  eius  consulerem,  non  aspexi; 
itaque  dum  ad  Episcopum  scandentem  sublevo  magistrum  perdidi,  sub  quo 
militare  coeperam  magna  cum  spe."  Letter  to  Sigeros,  De  Reb.  Fam.,  Fracas- 
setti,  vol.  ii,  p.  474. 

^  Boccaccio  referring  to  Perugino  says,  "  Et  si  usquam  curiosissimus  fuit  homo 
in  perquirendis,  iussu  etiam  sui  principis,  peregrinis  undecumque  libris,  hystoriis 
et  poeticis  operibus,  iste  fuit :  et  ob  id  singular!  amicitia  Barlae  iunctus,  que  a 
Latinis  habere  non  poterat,  eo  medio  innumera  exausit  a  Grecis."  De  Gen. 
Deor.  lib.  xv,  cap.  6,  Cf.  also  Introd.  to  De  Gen.  Deor.,  Hecker,  pp.  271,  165. 


MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM  gi 

into  the  rudiments  of  Greek.'  In  the  second  place  he  was 
destitute  of  sympathy  of  feeHng  or  imagination.  In  training 
he  was  preeminently  a  theologian  and  mathematician  of  a 
rather  hard  type ;  in  philosophy  he  belonged  to  the  con- 
servative Aristotelian  school.^  He  evidently  had  no  share  in 
Petrarch's  anxiety  to  read  Plato  and  could  tell  him  little  of 
Plato's  doctrines.3  At  the  end  of  the  lessons  Petrarch 
apparently  had  advanced  hardly  beyond  the  alphabet.  The 
Greek  words  which  he  copied  in  after  years  into  his  manu- 
scripts were  drawn,  rather  than  written,  in  a  large  hesitating 
hand  and  full  of  mistakes.''  Before  a  page  of  Greek  text  he 
was  practically  as  helpless  as  ever.^ 

Eleven  years  later  one  Nicholas  Sigeros  was  sent  to  Avig- 
non by  the  Byzantine  emperor  to  resume  the  discussion  of 
terms  for  a  reunion  of  the  Eastern  and  Western  churches. 
On  his  return  to  Constantinople  he  sent  back  to  Petrarch  a 
manuscript  of  Homer  in  the  original.  Petrarch  was  trans- 
ported with  joy,  and  begged  his  friend  to  procure  for  him 

'  "  Sed  erat  ille  vir  ut  locupletissimus  Grece,  sic  Romane  facundie  pauperrimus, 
et  qui  ingenio  agilis  enunciandis  tamen  affectibus  laboraret.  Itaque  vicissim  et 
ego  fines  suos,  illo  duce,  trepide  subibam,  et  ille  post  me  sepe  nostris  in  finibus 
oberrabat,  quamquam  stabiliore  vestigio."  De  Reb,  Fam.  Fracassetti,  vol.  ii, 
p.  474- 

^The  biographical  preface  to  a  denunciation  of  the  heresy  of  Barlaam  by  John 
Cantacuzene  describes  him  as  ''opydvnv  fiivKoA  rtvuv  erepuv  '  ApiaTOTs'/uKuv  vnyp^e 
yeyvfivaa fitvoq,  tS}v  6t'  /loirruiv  /-ladr/ndrui'^  ovd'  anpo/r  SaKTV^oi^,  b  (jiaa/.^  yEyEv/ievog." 
Bandini,  Cai.  Codd.  Graec,  vol.  i,  p.  342. 

'Nolhac,  pp.  327-8. 

*Nolhao,  pp.  366-7. 

*  A  few  relics  of  Barlaam's  teachings  are  preserved  by  Boccaccio,  who  learned 
them  from  Petrarch  or  Paolo  Perugino  and  carefully  treasured  and  repeated  them. 
E.  g.,  concerning  the  genealogies  of  the  gods  he  quotes  Barlaam  as  saying, 
"  neminem  insignem  virum  principatu  aut  preeminentia  alia  tota  in  Grecia, 
insulis  et  litoribus  premonstratis,  eo  fuisse  seculo  quo  hec  fatuitas  viguit,  qui  ab 
aliquo  deorum  huiusmodi  duxisse  originem  non  monstraret."  De  Gen.  Dear., 
Introd.,  Hecker,  p.  165. 


92  MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM 

also  copies  of  Hesiod  and  Euripides.'  Nothing  more  came, 
however.  Petrarch  was  sadly  obliged  to  confess  that  though 
he  had  two  mighty  shades  of  the  past,  Homer  and  Plato, 
dwelling  beneath  his  roof,  they  were  dumb  to  him.^ 

In  later  years  Petrarch  did  not  speak  again  of  attempting 
himself  to  study  Greek.  But  he  threw  himself  ardently  into 
a  scheme  which  promised  to  make  the  contents  of  one  of  his 

^  "  Et  quoniam  petitionis  successus  petendi  paiit  audaciam,  mitte  si  vacat 
Hesiodum,  mitte,  precor,  Euripidtm."  Be  Reb.  tarn.,  Eracasseti.  vol.  ii,  p.  475. 
Erom  Barlaam  Petrarch  seems  to  have  heard  a  little  of  Euripides  whom  he  ac- 
cordingly puts  next  to  Homer,  "  alterum  ab  Hornero  poetice  Graie  lumen  Euri- 
pidem."  De  Kerned.,  Opp.,  p.  212.  Later,  having  learned  perhaps  somewhat 
more  from  Pilato,  both  Boccaccio  and  Petrarch  allude  to  the  tragedy  "  Polidorus," 
which  they  ascribe  to  Euripides.  Petrarch  quotes  a  sentiment  from  the  "  Tres- 
phontes  "  of  Euripides.  He  refers  also,  but  less  definitely,  to  Sophocles.  Hortis, 
Studj.,  p.  387. 

'^  Writing  to  Sigeros,  he  says,  "  Etsi  enim  ubicumque  sis,  de  tanto  gaudeam 
amico,  viva  tamen  ilia  tua  vox,  que  discendi  sitim,  qua  me  teneri  non  dissimulo, 
posset  vel  accendere  vel  lenire,  minime  aures  nieas  ferit,  sine  qua  Homerus  tuus 
apud  me  mutus,  imo  vero  ego  apud  ilium  surdus  sum.  Gaudeo  tamen  vel  aspectu 
solo  et  sepe  ilium  amplexus  ac  suspirans  dico :  '  O  magne  vir,  quam  cupide  te 
audirem ! '  Sed  aurium  mearum  aliam  mors  obstruxit,  aliam  longinquitas  invisa 
terrarum.  Tibi  quidem  pro  eximia  liberaiitate  gratias  ago.  Erat  mihi  domi, 
dictu  mirum,  ab  occasu  veniens  olim  Plato  philosophorum  princeps,  ut  nosti,. .  • . 
nunc  tandem  tuo  munere,  vir  insignis,  philosophorum  principi  poetarum  Graius 

princeps  accessit.     Quis  tantis  non  gaudeat  et  glorittur  hospitibus? Neque 

preterea  mihi  spes  eripitur  etate  hac  profectus  in  Uteris  vestris,  in  quibus  etate 
ultima  profecisse  adeo  cernimus  Catonem."  De  Reb.  Fam.,  Eracasseti,  vol.  ii, 
pp.  474-475.  The  curious  mingling  in  Petrarch's  mind  of  traditional  deference 
for  Homer  and  a  more  intimate  and  jealous  love  for  Vergil  are  shown  in  the 
letter  addressed  by  him  a  few  years  afterward  to  Homer.  There  the  Greek  poet 
is  conceived  to  be  a  somewhat  irascible  great  personage,  uneasy  lest  his  rightful 
meed  of  glory  be  withheld  from  him.  Petrarch  artfully  defen'  s  Vergil  from 
blame  for  his  failure  to  mention  the  name  of  Homer  in  the  Eneid.  De  Reb. 
Fam.,  Eracassetti,  vol.  iii,  pp.  293-304.  The  letter  is  partially  translated  into 
English  in  Robinson  and  Rolfe,  Petrarch,  pp.  253-261.  The  same  jealous  pride 
for  the  Reman  name  prompted  perhaps  Petrarch's  indignant  denial  of  the  claim 
made  by  "  quosdam  levissimos  Grecorum"  of  the  superiority  of  Alexander's  gen- 
eralship over  that  of  any  Roman;  "videlicet  non  tot  duces  egregios  tot  pru- 
dentium  ac  fortium  virorum  millia  uni  furioso  adolescenti  potuisse  resistere." 
Apol.  con.  Gall.,  0pp.,  p.  1076. 


MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM  93 

precious  manuscripts  intelligible.  In  the  winter  of  1358-9 
he  met  at  Padua  a  Calabrian  adventurer,  Leo,  or  Leontio, 
Pilato,  who  spoke  Greek,  and  professed  to  be  a  native  of 
Thessalonica  and  a  pupil  of  Barlaam.  "  In  appearance,"  as 
Boccaccio  reports,  "  he  was  an  unprepossessing  fellow,  with 
coarse  face,  shaggy  beard  and  rough,  black  hair,  given  to 
brooding  thoughts,  rude  and  uncultivated  in  his  ways."  He 
knew  little  Latin,  but  claimed  a  profound  acquaintance  with 
Greek  literature,  and  especially  with  history  and  ancient 
legendary  lore.'  Petrarch  seized  the  opportunity  to  have 
Pilato  make  for  him  a  specimen  translation  of  the  first  five 
books  of  the  Iliad,  and  communicated  the  news  of  his  dis- 
covery to  his  friend  Boccaccio.^  During  the  spring  and 
summer  of  1359  the  two  laid  plans  to  turn  the  valuable  find 
to  the  greatest  possiole  advantage.  As  a  result  Boccaccio 
invited  Pilato  to  Florence,  and  installed  him  there  as  a 
teacher  of  Greek  and  a  translator  of  Homer.  For  a  short 
time  at  least  he  was  salaried  by  the  university  as  a  public 
lecturer.3 

No  account  of  the  lectures  has  come  down  to  us.     They 

^ "  Post  hos  et  Leontium  Pylatum,  Thessalonicensem  virum  et,  ut  ipse  asserit, 
predict!  Barlae  auf!itorem,  persepe  deduce  (as  authority  for  statements  in  De 
Gen.  Dear.).  Qui  quidem  aspectu  horridus  homo  est,  turpi  facie,  barba  prolixa 
et  capillitio  nigro  et  meditatione  occupatus  assidua,  moribus  incultus  nee  satis 
urbanus  homo,  verum,  uti  experientia  nutum  fecit,  literarum  Grecarum  doctis- 
simus  et  quodam  modo  Grecarum  hystoriarum  atque  fabularum  arcivum  in- 
exaustum,  esto  Latinaium  non  satis  adhuc  instructus  sit."  De  Gen.  Dear.,  lib., 
XV,  cap.  6.     Hecker.  p.  272.     On  Pilato,  see  Voigt,  vol.  ii,  pp.  IC9-X12. 

■'  Nolhac,  pp.  339-354- 

'  There  are  no  documents  to  prove  this  outside  cif  Boccaccio's  own  explicit  state- 
ment: "  .  .  et  maximo  labore  meo  curavi  ut  inter  doctores  Florentini  studii  sus- 
cipereiur,  ei  ex  publico  mercede  apposita  .  .  .  Ipse  msuper  fui,  qui  ut  legerentur 
publice  Omeri  libri  operatus  sum.''  De  Gen.  Dear.,  lib.  xv,  cap.  7.  Hecker,  p. 
277.  The  same  assertion  is  repeated  in  Manetti's  life  of  Boccaccio,  written  in 
the  early  fifteenth  century:"  .  .  .  atque  ila  curavit  ut  puLlica  mercede  ad  legen- 
dos  codices  Grecos  publice  conduceretur  :  quod  ei  primo  in  civitate  nostra  contigisse 
dicitur  ut  Grece  ibidem  publice  legeret."     Manetti,  Vite  del  Dante,  p.  146. 


94 


MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM 


were  probably  soon  abandoned,  if  ever  actually  begun.  But 
for  almost  three  years  Boccaccio  entertained  his  uncouth 
instructor  in  his  own  house,  keeping  diligent  record  of  the 
words  of  wisdom  which  he  let  fall,  and  holding  him  con- 
tinually at  work  upon  a  Latin  rendering  of  the  Iliad  and 
Odyssey.'  In  his  first  enthusiasm  he  begged  Petrarch  to 
send  down  his  text  of  Plato  that  Pilato  might  work  upon  that 
also,  but  Petrarch  discreetly  refused  to  burden  the  man  with 
a  second  masterpiece  until  he  had  completed  the  first. ^ 
Before  the  three  years  had  quite  elapsed  Pilato  finished  the 
translation  of  Homer  and  departed,  convinced,  apparently, 
of  the  profitableness  of  a  literary  profession.  On  a  trip  to 
the  East  a  little  later  he  procured  some  Greek  manuscripts 
and  took  ship  again  for  Italy,  bringing  them  with  him.  Pe- 
trarch and  Boccaccio  anxiously  awaited  his  return.  But 
while  standing  on  the  ship's  deck  during  a  storm  he  was 
struck  and  killed  by  lightning.  Petrarch,  who  was  then  in 
Venice,  had  the  shabby  volumes  which  were  found  among 
the  luggage  examined  to  see  if  they  included  a  Euripides  or 
a  Sophocles.3  These  books  were  perhaps  the  same  that 
Boccaccio  later  brought  to  Florence, "^  the  same  perhaps  that 
served  in  time  as  texts  for  the  school  of  Chrysoloras. 

*  "  Nam  eum  legentem  Omerum  et  mecum  singular!  amicitia  conversantem  fere 
tribus  annis  audivi,  nee  infinitis  ab  eo  recitatis,  urgente  etiam  alia  cura  animum, 
acrior  suffecisset  memoria,  ni  cedulis  commendassem."  De  Gen.  Dear.,  lib.  xv,  cap. 
6.     Hecker,  p.  272. 

'^  "  Sed  videnduni  vobis  est  ne  hos  duos  tantos  principes  Graiorum  uno  fasce  con- 
volvere  iniuriosius  sit  et  mortales  humeros  pregravet  divinorum  pondus  ingenio- 
rum."      Var.,  Fracassetti,  vol.  iii,  p.  371. 

^ "  Supellex  horridula  et  squalentes  libelli,  hinc  nautarum  fide,  hinc  propria  tuli 
inopia  evasere.  Inquiri  faciam  an  sit  in  eis  Euripides  Sopboclesque  et  alii,  quos 
mihi  quesiturum  se  spoponderat."     De  Reb.  Sen.,  Opp.,  p.  S07. 

* "  Non  multo  post  maiori  Grecarum  literarum  aviditate  tractus  suis  sumptibus, 
quamquam  inopia  premeretur,  non  modo  Homeri  libros  sed  nonnuUos  etiam 
codices  Grecos  in  Etruria(m)  atque  in  patriam  e  media,  ut  aiunt,  Grecia  (Boccac- 
cio) reportavit;  quod  ante  cum  nullus  fecisse  dicebatur  ut  in  Etruriam  Greca 
volumina  retulisset."     Manetti,  p.  146. 


^S 


MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM 


95 


The  work  of  Pilato  was  twofold.  He  gave  Boccaccio  les- 
sons in  Greek  and  translated  Homer.  But  although  Boc- 
caccio was  an  assidious  and  eager  student,  he  made  slow 
progress.  What  knowledge  he  gained  was  of  the  simple, 
uncritical,  medieval  kind.  At  the  conclusion  of  his  studies 
with  Pilato  he  could  copy  a  Greek  word  or  a  Greek  line  into 
his  books,  and,  chief  joy  of  all,  he  could  expound  and  mani- 
pulate derivations.  The  longest  passage  which  he  ventured 
to  transcribe  was  the  well  known  hexameter  distich  on  the 
birthplace  of  Homer.  This  he  inserted  both  in  the  Vita  di 
Dante  and  in  the  Genealogia  Deorum,  remarking  magnifi- 
cently that  he  remembered  reading  it  in  an  antique  Greek 
poem  with  which  all  scholars  were  familiar,^  To  his  critics 
he  protested  that  he  did  not  employ  these  Greek  phrases  in 
any  spirit  of  ostentation,  but  that  he  had  worked  long  to 
acquire  his  skill  and  that  he  should  not  now  be  begrudged  a 
little  hard  earned  credit.^  His  aptitude  for  etymology  he 
displayed  more  frequently.  Where  the  formation  was 
obvious  he  was  apt  to  be  roughly  correct,  where  it  was  not, 
imagination  took  the  place  of  knowledge.  A  few  instances 
are  siifBcient  to  show  the  quality  of  his  attainments.  In  one 
passage  he  repudiates  vehemently  the  idea  that  the  word, 
poetry,  is  derived  from  a  commonplace  verb,  meaning  to 
make.  No,  it  is  an  ancient  Greek  term  applied  first  to  the 
melodious   sound   of  verse,  and    means  in  Latin,  "  exquisita 

'The form  is  not  exactly  the  same  in  both  passages.  See  Hecker,  pp.  153-4. 
The  lines  were  perhaps  appended  to  the  Greek  text  of  Homer:  "  Quod  ego  etiam 
testari  vetustissimo  Greco  carmine  satis  inter  eruditos  vulgato  legisse  menini."  De 
Gen.  Dear,  lib.  xiv,  cap.  19.     Hecker,  p.  252. 

'■'  "  Fabulas  Grecorum  scripsisse,  quarum  hie  liber  plenissimus  est,  a  nemine 
ostentationis  causa  factum  dicitur;  paucos  inseruisse  versiculos  Grecis  literis 
scriptis  lacessitur  .  .  .  Michi  autem  irascuntur  nonnulli,  si  preter  nostro  evo 
solitum  Latinis  Greca  carmina  misceo,  et  ex  labore  meo  pauculum  glorie 
summo."     Vp.  cit.,  lib.  xv,  cap.  7,  Hecker,  pp.  277-8. 


96 


MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM 


locutio."'  In  a  letter  to  a  friend  in  the  Augustinian  order 
he  explains  the  hidden  sense  of  certain  proper  names  used 
by  himself  in  his  Eclogues.  Alcestus  is  the  title  for  a  strong 
king,  for  "  Alee  "  is  valor  and  "  aestus  "  is  heat.^  Lycidas  is  a 
tyrant,  from  "  lyco,"  a  wolf,  Dorilus  an  unhappy  captive,  from 
"doris,"  bitterness.3  Olimpia  is  derived  from  "  olimpos," 
meaning  shining  or  clear.  Camalos  (perhaps  Amalos )  means 
dull  or  slothful;  the  significance  of  Therapon  the  author  has 
forgotten  until  he  looks  up  the  book  in  which  he  found  it.'f 
The  fact  which  strikes  one  amongst  all  this  erudition  is 
that  nowhere  does  Boccaccio  reveal  by  word  or  sign  tliat 
he  has  read  a  Greek  book.  His  knowledge  of  things  Greek 
excels  that  of  his  predecessors  in  quantity  but  not  in  kind. 
He  possesses  a  larger  fund  of  scraps  of  etymological  and 
mythological  information  and  he  is  acquainted  with  a  new 
Latin  version  of  Homer.s 

'  "  Cuius  quidem   poesis  nomen  non  inde  exortum  est,  unde  plurimi  ininus  ad- 
vertenter  existimant,  scilicet   a  poio,  pois,  quod   idem   sonat   quod   fingo,  fingis: 
quin  immo  a  poetes,  vetustissimum  Grtcorum  vocabulum,  Latine  sonans  exquisita- 
locutio,"  etc.     £>£   Gen.  Dear  ,  lib.  xiv,  cap.  7.     Hecker,  p.  210. 

^"  Alee,  quod  est  virtus,  et  estus,  quod  est  fervor."     Letttre,  pp.  269-70. 

^"Lycidam  a  lyro  denomino,  qui  Latine  lupus  est  .  .  .  Doris  quod  amaritudo 
sonat."     Gp.  cit.,  \>.  2"]!. 

*  Olimpia,  "  ab  Olimpos  Grace,  quod  splendidum  seu  lucidum  Latine  sonat  et 
inde  coelum  .  .  .  Camalos  Greci,  Latine  sonat  hebes  vel  torpens,  eo  quod  in  eo 
demonstrentur  mores  torpentis  servi.  Therapon,  huius  significatum  mm  pono, 
quia  non  memini,  nisi  iterum  revisam  librum  ex  quo  de  ceteris  sumpsi,  et  ideo 
ignoscai.     Scis  hominis  memoriam  labilem  esse  et  potissime  seiium."      Op.  cit., 

P-  273- 

^  An  illustration  of  the  discussion  aroused  by  some  of  Pilato's  mythological 
teachings  is  given  in  the  following  extract.  "  Dicebat  enim  Leontius  a  Barlaam, 
Calabro,  preceptore  suo,  et  ab  aliis  eruditis  viris  in  talibus  audisse  sepius  tempori- 
bus  Phoronei,  Argivorum  regis,  qui  anno  mundi.  ni.  ccclxxxv.  regnare  cepit, 
Museum,  quem  ex  inventoribus  carminum  unum  diximus,  insignem  apud  Grecos 
fuisse  virum,  et  eodem  fere  tempore  lloruisse  Lynum,  de  quibus  adhuc  fama  satis 
Celebris  est,  que  eos  apud  nos  etiam  ttstatur  sacris  prefuisse  veterum;  et  his  etiam 
Orpheus  additur  Trax,  et  ob  id  primi  creduntur  theologi.     Paulus  autem  Perusi- 


MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM  gy 

The  Homer  of  Pilate  has  never  been  printed  in  full.  The 
first  book  of  the  Iliad  and  the  first  of  the  Odyssey  have  been 
recently  published  in  the  appendix  to  a  large  volume  on  the 
Latin  writings  of  Boccaccio  and  from  these  one  must  judge 
the  character  of  the  whole/  During  the  course  of  the  work 
Petrarch  wrote  begging  to  be  allowed  one  word  of  advice, 
not  to  make  the  translation  too  literal.^  His  warning  was  evi- 
dently fruitless.  Pilato  had  not  the  training  nor  capacity  to 
attempt  anything  artistic.  A  strictly  word  for  word  repro- 
duction was  all  that  lay  within  his  compass.  His  style  can 
hardl>  be  appreciated  without  the  reading  of  one  or  two 
typical  extracts.  We  quote  accordingly  from  his  account 
of  the  visit  of  the  heralds  to  the  tent  of  Achilles  to  take 
away  Briseis. 

nus  longe  iuniorem  poesim  esse  dicebat,  non  mutatis  auctoribus,  asserens 
Orpheum,  qui  ex  antiquis  inventoribus,  scribitur  unus,  temporibus  Laumedontis 
Troyanorum  regis,  claruisse,  qui  evo  Euristei,  regis  ?Jecenarum,  apud  Troyanos 
imperium  gessit,  circa  annos  mundi.  m.  dcccx.,  eumque  Orpheum  ex  Argonautis 
fuisse,  et  non  solum  successorem  Museo,  sed  eiusdem  Musei  Eiumolphi  filii  fuisse 
magistrum;  quod  etiam  in  libro  temporum  testatur  Eusebius.  Ex  quo  patet,  ut 
dictum  est,  longe  iuniorem  quam  diceretur  apud  Grecos  esse  poesim.  Attamen 
ad  hoc  respondebat  Leontius  arbitrari  a  doctis  Grecis  plures  fuisse  Orpheos  atque 
Museos,  verum  ilium  veterem  Museo  veteri  atque  Lyno  contemporaneum  Grecum 
fuisse,  ubi  Trax  iunior  predicatur.  Sane  quoniam  iunior  hie  Bachi  orgia  adin- 
venit  et  Menadum  nocturnos  cetus,  et  muha  circa  veterum  sacra  innovavit,  et 
plurimum  oratione  valuit,  ex  quibus  apud  coevos  ingentis  existimationis  fuit,  a 
posteris  primus  creditus  est  Orpheus."  I.  e.  Pilato  argues  that  poetry  was  earlier 
among  the  Greeks  than  among  the  Hebrews,  Perugino  that  Moses  was  a  poet 
before  any  Greek  was.  Boccaccio  is  inclined  to  agree  with  Pilato.  De  Gen. 
Dear.,  lib.  xiv,  cap.  8.     Hecker,  pp.  213-4. 

'  Hortis  Studj,  pp.  543  et  seq.  Nolhac  quotes  a  few  short  passages  with  Pe- 
trarch's comments  on  them. 

''■  "Unum  sane  iam  hinc  premonuisse  velim,  ne  post  factum  siluisse  poeniteat; 
nam  si  ad  verbum,  ut  dicis,  soluta  oratione  res  agenda  est,  de  hoc  ipso  loquentem 
Hieronymum  audite  .  .  .  '  Si  cui,'  inquit,  '  non  videtur  lingue  gratiam  interpreta- 
tione  mutari,  Homerum  ad  verbum  exprimat  in  Latinum;  plus  aliquid  dicam: 
eundem  in  sua  lingua  prose  verbis  interpretetur :  videbit  ordinem  ridiculum  et  poe- 
tam  eloquentissimum  vix  loquentem.'  Kec  dixi  ut,  dum  tempus  est,  videas  ne 
tantus  labor  irritus  sit."     Epis.  Var.,  Fracassetti,  vol.  iii,  p.  370. 


98 


MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM 


"  Isti  nolentes  iverunt  ad  litus  maris  sine  fece 

Mirmidonum  ad  tendas  et  naves  venerunt. 

Hunc  inveuerunt  in  tenda  et  in  nave  nigra 

Sedentem  neque  istos  videns  gravit  (sic)  fuit  Achilles, 

Isti  autem  pertimuerunt  et  verecundabant  de  rege, 

Steterunt  neque  ipsum  vocabant  neque  loquebantur, 

Postquam  hie  scivit  suis  in  sensibus  vocavit ; 

'Gaudete  precones,  lovis  nuntii  atque  et  hominum, 

Prope  venite,  non  mihi  vos  causales  sed  Agamemnon, 

Qui  vos  misit  Briseidis  causa  puelle. 

Sed  eya,  divine  Patrocle.  abstrahe  puellam 

Et  ipsis  des  ferre.     Hi  ipsi  testes  sint 

Ad  deos  beatos  et  ad  mortales  homines 

Et  ad  imperatorem  crudelem,  si  quando  postea 

Opus  mei  fiet  mortalem  morbum  expelles ; 

Aliis  certe  hie  corruptibilibus  sensibus  cremabitur, 

Neque  scit  intelligere  simul  ante  et  post, 

Ut  ei  in  navibus  salvi  pugnent  Greci."  ' 

Again  from  the  description  of  the  reception  of  Athena  by 
Telemachus, 

"  Hec  sentiens  procatoribus  simul  sedens  aspexit  Athenam, 
Ivit  autem  versus  vestibulum,  redarguit  se  in  animo 
Forensem  diu  in  ianuis  stare.     luxta  autem  stans 
Manum  cepit  dexteram  et  recepit  ferream  lanceam, 
Et  ipsam  vocans  verbis  pennosis  loquebatur ; 
*  Ave  amice,  nobiscum  amicaberis,  nam  postea 
Cenam  cum  finieris  sermocinaberis  cuius  tibi  opportunitas.' 
Sic  cum  dixit  precessit.     Hec  autem  sequebatur  Pallas  Athena. 
Isti  autem  quando  iam  intra  fuerunt  domum  altam 
Lanceam  certe  erexit  ferens  in  columna  longa 
Vagina  lancearum  intus  benefacta  ubi  alie 
Lancee  Ulixis  talasifronos  stabant  multe, 

Ipsarum  (ipsam)  autem  in  throno  sedem  (sedere)  fecit  ducens  sub 
pannum  cum  extenderat, 

'  Hortis,  pp.  553-4.     f/iad,  A,  11,  329-346. 


MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM  gg 

Bonum  varium,  sub  autem  scabellum  pedibus  fuit, 
Penes  autem  ipsam  currum  posuit  depictum  extra  alios. 
Procatores  ne  forensis  consultatus  rumore  congregationis 
Cena  sine  delectatione  se  haberet,  superbis  cum  advenerat, 
Ac  ut  ipsum  de  patre  absente  interrogaret. 
Cherniva  pedisequa  fudibili  fudit  ferens 
Bono  aureo  supra  argenteum  lebetem, 
Ut  lavarentur :  ante  autem  benefactam  extendit  mensam.'" 

As  these  lines  show  there  was  no  effort  to  preserve  sense 
or  rhythm,''  no  feeling  for  genuine  equivalents,  nothing  but 
a  succession  of  words  neither  wholly  Greek  nor  Latin.3 

Nearly  seven  years  passed  from  the  time  when  Petrarch 
first  planned  the  undertaking  before  he  received  his  own 
copies  of  the  completed  work.  Thenceforth  both  he  and 
Boccaccio  studied  their  Homers  diligently,  and  alluded  to 
them  frequently  in  later  writings/     Petrarch's  manuscripts 

^  Hortis,  p.  566.     Odyssey,  a,  11.  1 18-138. 

'  The  two  lines  of  hexameter  quoted  by  Petrarch  in  the  dialogue,  De  Contemptu 
Mundi,  are  perhaps  his  own  remodelling  of  Pilato's  version.     They  occur  neither 
in  Pilato's  original,  nor  in  any  medieval  Homeric  poem.     "  .  .    de  te  non  minuf 
proprie  quam  de  Bellerophonte  illud  Homericum  dici  posset, 
'Qui  miser  in  campis  errabat  Aleis 
Ipse  suum  cor  edens,  hominum  vestigia  vitans.'  " 

Petrarch,  0pp.,  p.  357.     The  Greek  reference  is  Iliad,  Z,  11.  200-201. 

'  Homeric  epithets  are  exactly  and  cumbrously  reproduced.  Achilles  is 
"pedivelox,"  "  acutuspedes,  divinus."  Hortis,  p.  545,  1.  58;  p.  547,  1.  121. 
Agamemnon,  "  ample  regnans,"  p.  554, 1.  357.  Telemachus,  "  scientificus,"  p.  569, 
1.  213.  Chryseis,  "  pulchram  genas,"  or  in  another  reading,  "  pulchras  genas 
habentem,"  p.  548,  1.  143.  The  Argives,  "  bene  ocreati,"  "  eneahabentium  indu- 
menta," p.  544,  1.  17,  p.  571,  1.  286.  Among  the  gods  Zeus  is  "  capram  lactan- 
tis,"  "delectanti  in  tonitruis,"  "nubium  agregator,"  p.  550,  1.  222,  p.  556,  1.  421, 
p.  558, 1.  511.  Hera,"  canis  oculos  habens"  "  bovina  oculos  dulcis,""  ferens  albe 
(alba)  brachia,"  p.  550, 1.  225,  p.  560,  1.  568,  p.  560,  1.  572.  Dawn,  "  erigenia 
rubeum  digitum  dies,"  p.  557,  1.  477.  Words  which  defy  translation  are  incor- 
porated outright,  e.  g.,  "  elicopeda  puella,"  p.  546,  1.  98,  "  hechibolo  Apolhni," 
p.  556,  1.  439,  "  glaucopis  Athena,"  p.  563,  1.  44,  "  Mercurium  certe  diactoron 
Argiphontem,"  p.  565,  1.  84. 

*  See  for  ]  etrarch,  Nolhac,  pp.  349-350,  K-rting,  vol.i,  pp.  476-8;  for  Boccac- 
cio, Hortis,  pp.  371-2. 


joo  MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM 

of  the  Iliad  and  Odyssey,  closely  annotated  in  his  own  hand, 
are  still  in  preservation  at  Paris.  The  comments  vary  in 
character  from  explanations  of  difficult  words  by  synonym 
and  definition,  or  of  dark  passages  by  notes  on  Greek  my- 
thology and  customs,  to  moral  and  religious  criticisms  on 
Homeric  ethics  and  theology.'  They  serve  to  demonstrate 
again,  if  further  demonstration  were  needed,  Pilato's  inade- 
quacy as  teacher  and  translator,  Petrarch's  zeal  in  the  new 
pursuit,  his  consciousness  of  the  importance  of  the  achieve- 
ment, and  at  the  same  time  bis  failure  to  apprehend  the 
poet's  spirit  through  such  a  medium.  One  can  hardly  blame 
him  that  he  shows  no  perception  of  the  freshness  and  human 
interest  of  the  epic  story,  and  that  he  tries  to  compensate  for 
the  barbarity  of  the  style  by  finding  didactic  and  allegorical 
meanings  in  the  simplest  sentences.  One  cannot  wonder 
that  no  outburst  of  delight  follows  his  first  reading  or  that  a 
few  years  later  we  should  discover  him  saying  that  Demos- 
thenes had  been  succeeded  by  Cicero,  Hom.er  by  Vergil,  and 
that  the  later  comers  had  equalled  or  excelled  their  models.^ 
The  lines  of  another  sonnet  writer  four  centuries  afterward 
might  have  been  his. 

^For  interesting  and  full  citations  see  Nolhac,  pp.  355-366,  Pilato  must  at 
times  have  given  his  imagination  full  swing,  as  in  his  elaborate  discussion  of  the 
reasons  vi'hy  Homer  began  the  catalogue  of  ships  with  the  contingent  from 
Boeotia,  op.  cii.,^.  356,  note  i. 

^ "  Ergo  post  Platonem  atque  Aristotelem  de  rebus  omnem  philosophic  partem 
spectantibus  Varro  et  Cicero  scribere  ausi  sunt.  PostDemosthenem  de  rebus  ad 
eloquentiam  pertinentibus  Cicero  idem,  post  Homerum  poetice  scribere  ausus  est 
Maro;  et  uterque  quem  sequebatur  aut  attigit  aut  transcendit."  He  goes  on  to 
compare  Latin  historians,  lawgivers,  mathematicians,  theologians  with  Greek  to 
the  advantage  of  the  former,  and  ends:  "  Denique  Grecos  et  ingenio  et  stvlo  fre- 
quenter vicimus  et  frequenter  equavimus;  imo,  si  quid  credimus  Ciceroni,  semper 
vicimus  ubi  annisi  sumus."  Rer.  Se7iil.,  0pp.,  p.  913.  This  letter  was  written 
about  1370.  Whether  the  words  express  more  disappointment  or  relief  might  be 
hard  to  determine. 


MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM  lOl 

"Standing  aloof  in  giant  ignorance, 
Of  thee  I  hear  and  of  the  Cyclades, 
As  one  who  sits  ashore  and  longs  perchance 
To  visit  dolphin-coral  in  deep  seas."  ' 

Nevertheless  he  never  abandoned  the  task  of  studying  and 
commenting  upon  the  treasured  pages.  If  early  tradition  be 
true,  death,  when  it  came,  found  him  busy  in  his  library  over 
Pilato's  Odyssey.' 

The  part  of  Petrarch  and  Boccaccio  in  the  revival  of  Greek 
scholarship  in  the  West  may  be  briefly  summarized  as  fol- 
lows. They  were  the  first  men  of  influence  to  feel  an  ambi- 
tion to  read  Greek  literature  in  the  original,  and  to  express 
that  ambition  in  words  that  made  a  lasting  impression.  They 
were  also  the  first  to  inquire  after  artistic  masterpieces  here- 
tofore ignored,  after  Homer  and  Euripides,  as  well  as  more 
didactic  authors.  They  aimed  to  be  humanists  in  Greek  as 
in  Latin.  Against  the  overwhelming  dominance  of  Aristotle 
they  sought  to  oppose  Plato.  Their  actual  accomplishments 
fell  far  short  of  their  desires.  They  never  learned  to  read 
Greek.  They  knew  but  one  new  author  in  translation, 
Homer.  Their  stock  of  laboriously  acquired  information, 
linguistic  and  historical,  was  dubious  in  quality,  soon  to 
become  totally  discredited.  They  concluded  by  pronounc- 
ing Greek  culture  at  its  best  inferior  to  Latin.  But  they  set 
the  fashion  in  literary  circles  of  longing  for  more  knowledge. 
They  reminded  Western  Europe  after  generations  of  satisfied 
ignorance  of  what  it  had  forgotten.  They  reintroduced 
Homer  to  Pcaly.  The  poverty  of  their  translation  was  a 
stimulus  to  the  production  of  a  better  in  the  following  cen- 
tury. In  short  they  gave  the  starting  impulse  to  the  move- 
ment which  was  to  restore  Greek  literature  in  its  original 
form  to  a  place  in  the  education  of  every  cultivated  European. 

'Keats,  To  Homer.  'Nolhac,  pp.  348-9. 


I02  MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM 

Petrarch  and  Boccaccio  died  within  a  few  years  of  one 
another,  but  the  renewed  and  broader  interest  in  the  classics 
lived  on  in  men  who  had  felt  their  influence.  Giovanni 
Malpaghini  of  Ravenna,  in  youth  Petrarch's  favorite  pupil, 
set  out  twice  on  a  quest  through  Italy  for  an  opportunity  to 
study  Greek,  hoping  to  discover  a  second  Barlaam  or  Pilato.' 
Failing  in  this  he  became  a  teacher  of  Latin  rhetoric  and 
belles-lettres  in  Padua,  perpetuating  there  the  ideals  of  liter- 
ary taste  and  earnestness  which  he  had  inherited  from 
Petrarch.''  Luigi  Marsigli  of  the  convent  of  San  Spirito  held 
a  position  in  Florence  corresponding  to  that  of  Malpaghini 
in  Padua.  A  great  admirer  of  Petrarch,  he  had  continually 
on  his  lips  the  names  which  Petrarch  had  honored,  Cicero, 
Vergil,  Seneca.  Among  the  younger  students  whom  he 
inspired  with  a  love  for  the  classic  past  were  some  who  were 
later  to  bring  about  the  final  revival  of  Greek  in  Florence. 

Indeed,  during  the  latter  years  of  the  fourteenth  century, 

^  He  even  proposed  a  journey  to  Constantinople,  but  was  dissuaded  by  Petrarch, 
who  thought  there  was  more  hkelihood  of  finding  a  satisfactory  teacher  in  Italy. 
See  a  letter  of  introduction  which  Petrarch  gave  him  at  the  time  of  his  second 
expedition :  "  In  primis  autem  literas  Grecas  sitit  et  senile  Catonis  desiderium, 
vixdum  pubes,  anticipat  .  .  .  Neu  forsitan  mireris,  habet  ista  precipitatio  rationis 
velum,  cum  enim  primum  illi  animus  fuisset  recto  calle  Constantinopolim  profi- 
cisci,  edoctusa  me  Greciam,  ut  olim  ditissimam,  sic  nunc  omnis  longe  inopem  dis- 
cipline, hoc  uno  mihi  credito,  non  omisit  iter  propositum  sed  inflexit,  cumque  ex 
me  sepius  audisset  aliquot  Graie  lingue  doctissimos  homines  nostra  etate  Calabriam 
habuisse,  nominatim  duos,  Barlaam  monachum  ac  Leonem  seu  Leontium.  Quo- 
rum uterque  mihi  perfamiliaris,  primus  etiam  et  magister  fuerat  profecissetque 
aliquid  fortasse,  ni  mors  invidisset.  Statuit  Calabrum  littus  invisere  et  Italic 
plagam  illam  que  magna  olim  Grecia  dicta  est.  .  ,  .  Quod  desperat  apud  Grecos, 
non  difhdit  apud  Calabros  inveniri  posse."     J?er.  Senil.,  Cpp.,  p.  887. 

^  His  reputation  as  a  traveller,  perhaps,  once  made  his  friend  Salutato  appeal  to 
him  on  a  question  of  Greek  usage.  "  Demum  habent  Greci  pluralem  numerum 
duplicem;  unum  qui  de  duobus,  alterum  quem  dicunt  de  pluribussignificare.  Quo, 
precor,  si  Grece  sciveiis  ac  voles  loqui,  quo,  precor,plurali,dimetro  vel  polymetro, 
quempiam  honoris  gratia  compellabis."  Salutato,  ^^a/.,  vol.  ii,  pp.  473  4.  It  is 
doubtful  if  Malpaghini  was  able  to  answer  so  simple  an  inquiry. 


MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM  IO3 

Florence,  in  her  season  of  freedom  and  prosperity,  was  the 
centre  of  intellectual  activity  of  all  kinds.  Her  architects 
and  painters  had  begun  the  beautifying  of  the  city  with 
monuments  of  every  description,  the  promise  of  still  better 
things  to  come.  The  majestic  dome  of  Santa  Maria  del 
Fiore  was  just  rising  beside  the  Arno.  Many  of  her  leading 
citizens  were  keenly  interested  in  antiquities  and  artistic  and 
literary  subjects.  Beside  the  serious  meetings  of  scholars  in 
the  convent  of  San  Spirito  there  were  brilliant  gatherings  of 
poets  and  litterati  in  the  gardens  of  the  pleasure  villas  outside 
the  walls.  Wealthy  young  aristocrats,  like  Roberto  Rossi, 
Palla  Strozzi  and  Jacopo  da  Scarperia,  applied  themselves  to 
the  cultivation  of  the  liberal  arts,  collecting  enthusiastically 
manuscripts,  coins  and  ancient  carvings,  stopping  at  no  pains 
or  expense  to  increase  their  own  information  or  to  add  a  gem 
to  the  museums  of  the  republic.  Nicolo  Niccoli,  the  eldest 
son  of  a  well-to-do  merchant,  caught  the  fever,  abandoned 
his  father's  business  and  broke  with  his  family  in  order  to 
devote  himself  unreservedly  to  intellectual  pursuits.  Through 
Marsigli  he  was  introduced  to  a  study  of  the  Latin  classics. 
Whatever  he  could  spare  from  his  income  he  thenceforth 
spent  on  manuscripts,  and  by  unwearying  diligence  he  be- 
came the  expert  copyist  and  correlator  of  texts,  the  authority 
on  correct  readings,  and  the  ablest  detector  of  literary  cor- 
ruption of  his  day. 

The  man  whose  writings  reveal  most  fully  the  culture  of 
the  later  fourteenth  century  and  who  stood  as  the  leader  and 
patron  of  the  whole  literary  movement  in  Florence,  is  Coluc- 
cio  Salutato,  for  over  thirty  years  chancellor  of  the  republic, 
author  of  numerous  state  papers  and  works  on  historical, 
philosophical  and  moral  subjects.  Toward  the  end  of 
Petrarch's  Hfe  Salutato  exchanged  a  few  letters  with  him 
chiefly  on  political  matters.  At  news  of  his  death  he  com- 
posed an  extravagant  eulogy  to  his  memory,  setting    him 


I04  MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM 

above  all  the  writers  whom  antiquity  or  "arrogant  Greece" 
could  boast."  He  held  Petrarch  always  in  peculiar  venera- 
tion and  showed  the  effects  of  his  influence  in  various  ways. 
His  Latin  style  was  Petrarch's  considerably  exaggerated. 
An  upright,  laborious  student  of  letters  he  lacked  the  sensi- 
tiveness of  feeling  and  taste  that  marked  the  father  of 
humanism.  Even  his  correspondence  is  elaborate,  oratori- 
cal, pompous,  fairly  loaded  down  with  classic  allusions  and 
quotations.  On  the  other  hand,  he  shared  with  Petrarch  in 
certain  invaluable  scholarly  virtues,  an  unflagging  energy 
in  the  search  for  lost  masterpieces,  a  disgust  for  half  informed 
teachers,  careless  librarians,  bungling  copyists  and  obscure 
and  crude  translators.  In  f392  he  wrote  twice  to  Antonio 
Loschi,  an  acquintance  who  had  travelled  in  the  East,  press- 
ing upon  him  the  duty  of  rewriting  Pilato's  version  of 
Homer.  He  should  not  be  daunted  by  its  barbarity,  but 
should  systematically  set  about  recasting  and  polishing  the 
phraseology  until  he  obtained  a  product  truly  Homeric  in 
diction  as  well  as  in  thought.  Nor  should  he  be  too  literal 
nor  too  careful  to  make  each  Latin  line  match  precisely 
with  the  Greek,  but  in  the  interests  of  art  he  should  vary  the 
cold  narrative  with  interrogations  and  exclamations,  adding 
or  leaving  out  at  discretion  to  make  the  story  more  attrac- 
tive. Finally  he  would  do  well  to  write  the  whole  in  sonor- 
ous prose  instead  of  attempting  verse. ^     In  these  instructions 

'  "  Et  cum  insolens  Grecia  se  anteponeret  in  ceteris  Latio  vel  equaret,  in  ethicis 
ini|3er  se  vinci  a  Seneca  fatebatur.  Nos  autem  habemus  quem  possimus  et 
antiquitati  et  ipsi  Grecie  non  dicam  obicere  sed  preferre :  unum  hunc  Franciscum 
Petrarcam,"  &c.     Salutato,  EpisL,  vol.  i,  p.  182. 

2  "  Nee  te  terreat  insulsa  nimis  ilia  translatio  et  quod  nichil  in  ipsa  secundum 
Terba  suave  sit.  Res  velim,  non  verba,  consideres;  illas  oportet  extoUas  et  ornes 
et  turn  propriis,  turn  novatis  vprbis  comas,  talemque  vocabulorum  splendorem 
adicias,  quod  non  inventione  solum,  nonque  sententiis  sed  verbis  etiam  Homeri- 

cum   illud  quod  omnes  cogitamus  exhibeas  atque  sones Non  etiam  verbo 

verbum,  sicut  inquit  Flaccus, 

'  curabis  reddere  fidus 
Interpres.' 


MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM  105 

for  the  new  rendering  of  Homer  there  speaks  already  the 
reaction  of  spirit  from  the  medieval  slavish  subservience 
to  an  original.  The  original,  in  Salutato's  view,  was  to 
be  altered  and  amended  to  suit  a  modern  sense  of  style. 
With  an  allowance  for  dififerences  in  the  standards  of  the 
times,  Salutato's  Homer  might  have  reminded  us  of  Pope's. 
Apparently  Loschi  never  attempted  it. 

Salutato  himself  on  one  occasion  tried  his  hand  at  re- 
touching a  translation  from  the  Greek.  A  copy  of  Plutarch, 
"  De  Remediis  Irae,"  which  had  recently  been  put  into  Latin 
by  one  Simon,  Archbishop  of  Thebes,  stirred  his  indignation 
by  the  awkwardness  and  obscurity  of  its  wording.  Writing 
to  the  cardinal  to  whom  he  was  indebted  for  the  book  he 
remarks,  that  one  cannot,  however,  expect  better  from  a  Greek 
at  a  time  when  Latins  themselves  can  scarcely  aim  at  more 
than  being  grammatical.  "  We  have,"  he  says,  "  in  this  age 
no  Cicero,  Jerome,  Rufinus,Ambrose,  Chalcidius,  Cassiodorus, 
Evagrius  or  Boethius  to  make  us  translations  so  polished  and 
graceful  that  they  are  equal  to  the  originals  both  in  beauty 
and  clarity.  Still  I  am  grateful  to  the  good  man  who  has 
given  us  Plutarch  in  whatever  form.  Would  that  we  pos- 
sessed other  works  of  the  same  philosopher  even  in  as  poor 
a  shape  !"'      He  adds  that   he    has  endeavored  to  turn  this 

nee  carmini  carmen  connumerare.  Denique  cunctis  debitam  tribues  maiestatem 
si  soluta  mutatis  vel  additis  coniunctionibus  nectes,  si  frigidiuscula  turn  exclama- 
tionibus,  turn  interrogando  quasi  quibusdam  accendes  igniculis;  si  denique 
poteris,  inventa  commutans  vel  omittens  aliquid  aut  addens,  seriem  efficere 
gratiorem;  et  demum  si  yrimo  nitaris  tum  magis  propria,  turn  mage  splendentia 
vel  sonora  vocabula,  quam  interpres  ilia  fecerit,  et  ea  eadem  ipsa  prosa  non 
versibus  in  eandem  sententiam  adhibere.  Hec  satis."  Epist.,  vol.  ii,  pp.  356-7. 
The  second  letter  on  the  subject  was  written  two  months  later,  assuring  Loschi 
that  he  could  perform  the  task  satisfactorily  if  he  only  would.  Ibid.,  pp.  39S-9. 
Later  Salutato  composed  an  invective  against  Loschi  in  return  for  his  attack  on 
Florence. 

^ "  Misit  mihi  benignitas  tua  libellum  Plutarchi  De  Remediis  Ire,  quem  olim  de 
Greco  transtulit  in   Latinum  iussione  tua  vir  multe  venerationis,  Simon,  archi- 


Io6  MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM 

semi-Greek  version  into  true  Latin,  enlivening  the  monotony 
of  the  argument  with  exclamations  and  questions, — his  un- 
failing remedy  for  inelegance  and  dullness.  Fortunately  or 
unfortunately  no  more  of  this  work  than  Salutato's  descrip- 
tion of  it  has  ever  been  printed. 

Not  only  was  he  concerned  with  improving  the  quality  of 
existing  translations  from  the  Greek,  but  once  at  least  he 
contemplated  the  making  of  an  original  Latin  version  of  a 
Greek  book  hitherto  unknown.  The  renown  of  the  library 
of  Juan  Fernandez  de  Heredia,  grand  master  of  the  Knights 
of  Jerusalem,  had  reached  him,  and  he  composed  a  letter  of 
great  length  and  ponderousness  to  inquire  after  lost  writings 
of  the  historians  which  might  be  contained  therein.  He 
wishes  it  understood  that  he  does  not  refer  to  the  well  known 
works  of  men  like  Eusebius,  Cassiodorus,  Josephus,  Bede, 
Orosius,  the  thirty  books  of  Livy  or  the  Gallic  and  Civil 
Wars  of  Caesar.  But  he  is  on  a  search  for  the  rest  of  Livy, 
Trogus  Pompeius  and  Quintus  Curtius'  "  De  Gestis  Alexandri 
Macedoniae."  Furthermore,  he  has  heard  that  Don  Juan 
Fernandez  has  had  a  translation  made  of  forty-eight  of 
Plutarch's  Lives  from  ancient  into  vulgar  Greek  and  thence 
into  Spanish.  He  begs  that  a  copy  may  be  sent  him.  He 
may,  perhaps,  transfer  it  from  Spanish  into  Latin.     In  return 

episcopus  Thebanus,  quem  tractatum  avide  discurrens  mecum  indignari  cepi, 
tantam  esse  illius  translationis  obscuritatem  tamque  horrido  stilo  compositam, 
quod  nulla  prorsus  alliceret  suavitate  lectorem,  nee  facile  pateret  quid  nobis 
tantus  philosophus  tradidisset- ...  .Nee  tamen  est  ab  hominis  Greci  professione 
requirendum  Latinum  eloquium,  hac  presertim  etate  qua  vix  supra  puram  gram- 
maticam  elevamur  etiam  nos  Latini.  Non  sunt  hoc  tempore  Cicerones,  Hier- 
onymi,  Rufini,  Ambrosii  vel  Chalcidii,  non  Cassiodori,  non  Evagrii,  non  Boetii, 
quorum  translationes  tante  sunt  venustatis  atque  dulcedinis,  quod  nichil  possit 
ornatus  vel  perspicuitatis  in  his  que  transtulerunt  desiderari.  Habeo  tamen  illi 
optimo  viro  gratias  qui  nobis  qualitercumque  Plutarchum  dedit.  Utinam  et 
cetera  eiusdem  philosophi  vel  taliter  haberemus  1  "  Salutato,  Episl.,  vol.  ii,  pp. 
480-483.  (Evagrius  of  Antioch  [fl.  c.,  380]  was  reputed  to  be  the  author  of  the 
Latin  version  of  the  "  Vita  S.  Antonii.") 


MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM 


107 


he  will  gladly  lend  the  grand  master  his  Latin  version  of  the 
Odyssey  and  anything  else  from  his  own  shelves  which  the 
other  may  care  to  see.'  The  answer  of  Don  Juan  Fernandez 
has  not  been  preserved.  That  Salutato's  quest  was  in  part 
successful  may  be  inferred  from  the  presence  in  Florentine 
libraries  in  after  years  of  several  manuscripts  of  an  Italian 
rendering  of  Plutarch's  Lives,  the  heading  to  which  states 
that  the  book  was  first  put  into  vulgar  Greek  by  a  Greek 
philosopher  at  Rhodes,  thence  into  Aragonese  by  a  Domi- 
nican bishop,  learned  in  science,  history  and  languages,  at  the 
behest  of  "  Don  Freyre  Giovanni  Ferrando  di  Eredia,  by  the 
grace  of  God  master  of  the  order  of  St.  John  of  Jerusalem."  ^ 
We  may  conjecture  that  Salutato  found  the  labor  of  inter- 

^  "  Nee  peto  communes  istos  quos  habemus,  Eusebium,  Cassiodorum,  losephum, 
Egesippum,  Historias  scholasticas,  Bedam,  Orosium,  lustinum,  Eutropium, 
Paulum  Diaconum,  tres  Titi  Livii  Decades,  Salustii,  Catilinarum  et  lugurtitium, 
non  Anneum  Senecam,  qui  Florus  inscribitur,  non  abbreviationem  Titi  Livii,  non 
modernorum  nugas,  Specula  videlicet  historialia,  Satyram  Paulini,  Martini  Chron- 
icas  et  si  qua  alia  nostris  his  duobus  edita  seculis  fuerit  unquam  tibi  cura  videndi; 
non  etiam  Suetonium  de  duodecim  Cesaribus,  non  historicos  illos,  qui  incipientes 
ab  Adriano  usque  in  Numerianum  omnes  Cesares  Augustos  atque  tyrannos  stylo 
non  incongruo  descripserunt,  Spartianus,  Capitolinus,  Gallicanus,  Lampridius,  Tre- 
bellius,  et  Vopiscus:  non  commentarios  Caii  Cesaris  de  bello  Gallico,  quos  multi 
non  mediocriter  errantes,  ut  arbitror,  lulio  Celso  tribuunt;  non  etiam  communes 
illos  de  bello  Civili,sed  si  quos  alios  videris  authabes,  et  presertim  si  deTitoLivio 
plus  alicubi  scias  esse  quam  triginta  libros.  Si  Trogum  Pompeium  vidisti  vel 
habes  aut  unquam  ubi  sit  percepisti  et  an  totum  repereris  Q.  Curtium  de  Gestis 
Alexandri  Macedonie.  Nimis  equidem  diminutum  habemus.  De  historiis  etiam 
Salustii,  si  qua  unquam  bella  civilia,  que  Suetonius  scripsisse  creditur  vel  historias 
Claudii  Cesaris  inspexisti.  Sed  in  Livio  magis  et  cordalius  serves.  Ceterum  scio 
quod  de  Greco  in  Grecum  vulgare  et  de  hoc  in  Aragonicum  Plutarchum  de  Hys- 
teria xxxxviii  ducum  et  virorum  illustrium  interpretari  feceris :  habeo  quidem 
rubricarum  maximam  partem.  Cupio,  si  fieri  potest,  hunc  librum  videre;  forte 
quidem  transferam  in  Latinum.  Ego  autem  habeo  translationem  Odyssee  Homeri 
in  Latino,  quem  librum  audio  te  quesisse.  Si  iusseris,  mittam  hunc  tibi  et  quicquid 
me  habere  senseris  quod  tibi  placeat  plus  quam  libenter."  Epist.,  vol.  ii,  pp. 
299-301. 

*  Traversari,  vol.  i,  p.  ccxciv. 


I08  MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM 

preting  the  Spanish  more  difficult  than  he  had  imagined,  and 
bade  some  subordinate  translate  the  whole  into  Italian,  pos- 
sibly still  intending  ultimately  to  carry  it  on  from  Italian  into 
Latin.  But  there  is  no  proof  that  the  final  metamorphosis 
was  ever  accomplished. 

Like  his  predecessors,  Salutato  took  delight  in  exercising 
ingenuity  on  Greek  derivations.  His  knowledge  of  roots  he 
derived  from  Boccaccio  and  the  older  sources  for  etymology, 
and  he  thought  it  not  undignified  to  enliven  the  seriousness 
of  a  state  letter  with  a  happy  play  upon  words.  In  a  con- 
gratulatory epistle  to  Carlo  di  Durazzo,  king  of  Naples,  he 
reminds  him  that  his  name  Carolus  is  compounded  of 
"  charis  "  and  "  olon,"  that  is,  "  altogether  gracious."  '  In  a 
note  to  the  chancellor  of  Bologna  he  remarks  that  he  is 
amazed  to  hear  that  "  melanconia,"  "that  black  humor," 
could  ever  lay  hold  of  him.^  In  more  sober  vein  he  addresses 
to  the  bishop  of  Recanati  and  Macerata  an  expostulation 
on  the  news  that  the  prelate  has  ordered  the  word  "  evan- 
gelium "  to  be  S!)elled  and  pronounced  "  euvangelium " 
throughout  his  diocese.  Salutato  would  like  to  know  the 
authority  for  any  su-ch  form.  He  has  discovered  none  in  the 
old  authors.  He  is  aware  of  the  enigmatical  lines  in  the 
Grecismus  of  Eberhard  of  Bethune, 

"  Good  is  '  en/  and  thence  is  *  evangelium  ;' 
Evil,  '  evan,'  and  thence  is  '  evangelium.'  " 

and  of  the  fact  that  some  texts  spell  "  evangelium  "  of  the 
first  line  with  two  u's,  but  he  has  no  great  respect  for  Eber- 

'  '*  Karolus  enim  a  charis  Grece,  Latine  gratia,  et  olon,  totus,  dicitur,  hoc  est 
totus  gratiosus."     Epist.,  vol.  ii,  p.  31. 

^ "  Respondisti  michi,  frater  optime,  te  melanconia  perfusum  ineam  litteram 
recepisse,  in  quo  miratus  sum,  videns  quod  humor  ille  ni^er,  talem  enim  quod  et 
Grecum  vocabulum  sonat,  physici  volant,  te  potuerit,  ut  scribis,  plurimum  oc- 
cupare."      Op.  cit.,  vol.  i,  p.  298. 


MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM  lOg 

hard.'  "'Eu,'  as  Eberhard  tells  us  and  as  every  one  says, 
is  Greek,  and  means  in  Latin,  good.  '  Aggelos '  is  mes- 
senger, and  with  a  change  of  the  first  g  into  n  serves 
among  us  Latins  as  the  word  angel,  hence  '  evangelium,' 
which  is,  good  tidings.  I  can  see  no  reason  nor  necessity  for 
inserting  the  second  u,  nor  can  the  authority  of  Priscian  or 
Donatus  or  any  other  be  cited  to  support  it."^  The  Greeks, 
he  goes  on  to  argue,  never  had  a  diphthong  ending  in  u 
vowel.  U  after  another  vowel  was  always  u  consonant,  or  v 
with  the  sound  of  the  Eolic  digamma.  They  said  Thesevs, 
not  Theseus.  The  correct  pronunciation  of  "  evangelium  " 
is  with  e  vou^el  succeeded  by  u  consonant.  So  Balbus  and 
Brito,  in  their  ecclesiastical  treatises,  and  all  learned  scholars 
wrote  the  word.  If  the  bishop's  informer  persists  in  his 
opinion  he  should  advance  proofs  at  once.  However,  Salu- 
tato  would  be  glad  to  hear  if  the  bishop  has  ever  found  the 
word  "  evangelium  "  in  a  malevolent  sense  as  implied  in  the 
second  line  quoted  from  the  Grecismus.  "  I  know  that 
'  Evan  '  is  Bacchus  ;  I  know  that  '  Evantes  '  are  Bacchantes, 
or  frenzied,  as  '  evari '  is  '  bacchari,'  to  be  in  trenzy,  but  how 
'evangelium'  can  be  made  to  assume  a  similar  meaning  I 
would  give  much  to  know,"  3  The  problem  remained  in- 
soluble. 

1 6'/.  «V ,  vol.  ii,  pp.  1S7-9.  This  is  a  curious  letter,  but  it  is  impossible  to 
quote  more  than  short  extracts. 

"  Euque  bonum  signal  et  ab  hoc  evangelium  die; 
Perversum  sit  evan  :   hinc  fit  evangelium."     Epist.,  vol.  ii,  p.  187. 

■■* "  Eu  quidem,  ut  ille  vult  et  omnes  dicunt,  Grecum  est  et  bonum  Latine  signi- 
ficat.  Aggel>s  autem  nuncius  est,  qui  apud  nos,  mutata  penes  Latinos  prima  g 
in  n,  angelus  facit :  inde  evangelium,  hoc  est  bonum  annuncium.  Nam  intevponi 
illam  u  nescio  rationem  videre  vel  necessitatem;  ntc  id  fieri  debere  potest  auctori- 
tate  Prisciani  vel  Donati  aui  alterius  demonstari."     Jbid. 

' "  Scio  quod  Evan  Bacchus  est :  scio  quod  evantes  idem  est  quod  bacchantes 
et  insani'jntes,  sicut  evari,  bacchari  vel  insanire;  sed  qualiter  ad  hoc  deducatur 
evangelium  multifacerem  edoceri."     Ibid.,  p.  189. 


no  MEDIEVAL  HELLENISM 

Of  Greek  itself,  as  one  may  readily  gather  from  passages 
such  as  these,  Salutato  knew  no  more  and  probably  less 
than  Boccaccio.  He  and  his  generation  represent  no 
advance  in  actual  knowledge  or  achievement,  They  stand 
simply  as  preservers  of  the  tradition  which  Petrarch  and 
Boccaccio  handed  on  to  them.  Ignorant  of  Greek,  they 
lamented  their  deficiencies  and  did  what  seemed  possible  to 
remedy  them."'  Concerned  most  of  all  with  the  gradual 
revival  of  the  Latin  classics,  they  did  not  forget  that  the 
source  of  Latin  culture  was  the  Greek  and  that  the  Greek 
too  must  be  recovered  in  due  time,  Malpaghini,  Marsigli, 
Niccoli,  Salutato  were  all  tOTold  to  learn  the  new  language 
and  to  explore  the  new  realms  of  thought  when  the  oppor- 
tunity finally  came,  but  they  had  prepared  another  genera- 
tion to  profit  by  the  privileges  which  they  could  not  use. 
Is  was  through  the  special  exertions  of  Niccoli  and  Salutato 
in  1395  that  Chrysoloras  came  to  Florence. 

^Salutato,  Epist.,  vol.  i,  pp.  51-2. 


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VITA 


The  author  of  the  foregoing  essay  was  graduated  with  the 

degree  of  A.  B.  from  Wellesley  College  in   1897.     During 

the  years  1 898-1901  she  held  the  position  of  Instructor  in 

Classics    and    History   at   Whitman   College,  Walla  Walla, 

Washington.     From    1901    to    1905    she   pursued    graduate 

work  at  Columbia  University,  receiving  the  degree  of  A.  M. 

in  1902.     In  the  summer  of   1904  she  spent  two  months  in 

study  in   the  library  of  the  British  Museum.     In  January, 

1904,  she  was  appointed  Assistant  in   History  at  Barnard 

College,  and  during  the  year  1904-5  she  served  as  Lecturer 

in  History  in  the  same  institution.     Since  1905  she  has  been 

Warden  of  Sage  College  and  Lecturer  in  History  in  Cornell 

University. 

117 


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